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AN 

ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY, 

ancient  anB  JWotern, 

FROM 

THE   BIRTH   OF   CHRIST, 

TO    THE 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

IN    WHICH 

THE   RISE,    PROGRESS,     AND    VARIATIONS   OF    CHURCH   POWER  ARE   CON- 
SIDERED IN  THEIR  CONNEXION  WITH  THE   STATE  OF  LEARNING 
AND  PHILOSOPHY,  AND  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF 
EUROPE  DURING  THAT  PERIOD. 


BY    THE    LATE    LEARNED 

JOHN    LAWRENCE    MOSHEIM,  D.D, 

AND  CHANCELLOR   OF   THE   UNIVERSITY  OF  GOTTINGEN. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  ORIGINAL  LATIN, 

AM)  ACCOMPANIED  WITH  NOTES  AND  CHRONOLOGICAL    TABLES, 

BY    ARCHIBALD    MACLAINE,    D.D. 

TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED, 

AN  ACCURATE    INDEX. 


IN  SIX  VOLUMES. 

VOL.  III. 
LONDON: 

PKINTED  FOR  W.  BAYNES  AND  SON,  PATERNOSTER-ROW ;  T.  TEGG, 
CIIEAPSIDE  j  G.  OFFOR,  TOWER  HILL:  ALSO,  H.  S.  BAYNES  AND 
CO.  EDINBURGH,  AND  R.  GRIFFIN  AND  CO,  GLASGOW. 

1823. 


LONDON: 

raitfUD  BT  THOMAS  DAVISON,  WH1TEFR1ARS. 


THE 


TWELFTH  CENTURY. 


PART  I. 

THE  EXTERNAL   HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  prosperous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  A  CONSIDERABLE  part  of  Europe  lay  yet  in-    CENT 
volved   in  pagan  darkness,  which    reigned  more     xn. 
especially  in   the    northern   provinces.      It  was,    PAin 
therefore,  in  these  regions  of  gloomy  superstition,  several  of 
that  the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  was  principally  then°rthern 
exerted    in   this   century;    though    their   efforts  receYveTthe 
were  not  all  equally  successful,  nor  the  methods  the 

they  employed  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
equally  prudent.  Boleslaus,  duke  of  Poland, 
having  conquered  the  Pomeranians,  offered  them 
peace  upon  condition  that  they  would  receive 
the  Christian  doctors,  and  permit  them  to  exer- 
cise their  ministry  in  that  vanquished  province. 
This  condition  was  accepted,  and  Otho,  bishop 
of  Bamberg,  a  man  of  eminent  piety  and  zeal, 
was  sent,  in  the  year  1124,  to  inculcate  and  explain 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  among  that  super- 
stitious and  barbarous  people.  Many  were  con- 
verted to  the  faith  by  his  ministry,  while  great 

VOL.  in.  B 


2  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  numbers  stood  firm  against  his  most  vigorous 
xn-  efforts,  and  persisted  with  an  invincible  obstinacy 
_  in  the  religion  of  their  idolatrous  ancestors.  Nor 
was  this  the  only  mortification  which  that  illus- 
trious prelate  received  in  the  execution  of  his 
pious  enterprise ;  for,  upon  his  return  into  Ger- 
many, many  of  those  whom  he  had  engaged  in 
the  profession  of  Christianity,  apostatized  in  his 
absence,  and  relapsed  into  their  ancient  pre- 
judices ;  this  obliged  Otho  to  undertake  a  second 
voyage  into  Pomerania,  A.  D.  1126,  in  which, 
after  much  opposition  and  difficulty,  his  labours 
were  crowned  with  a  happier  issue,  and  contri- 
buted much  to  enlarge  the  bounds  of  the  rising 
church,  and  to  establish  it  upon  solid  founda- 
tions («).  From  this  period,  the  Christian  religion 
seemed  to  acquire  daily  new  degrees  of  stability 
among  the  Pomeranians;  who  could  not  be  per- 
suaded hitherto  to  permit  the  settlement  of  a  bishop 
among  them.  They  now  received  Adalbert,  or 
Albert,  in  that  character,  who  was  accordingly  the 
first  bishop  of  Pomerania. 
TheSciavo-  jj  Of  all  the  northern  princes  of  this  century, 

mans  andm-  -i       •  i  f«     •  •  i      i  i  i 

habitants  of  none  appeared  with  a  more  distinguished  lustre  than 
RU  en!  °f  Waldemar  I.  king  of  Denmark,  who  acquired  an 
immortal  name  by  the  glorious  battles  he  fought 
against  the  pagan  nations,  such  as  the  Sclavo- 
nians,  Venedi,  Vandals,  and  others,  who,  either 
by  their  incursions  or  this  revolt,  drew  upon 
them  the  weight  of  his  victorious  arm.  He  un- 
sheathed his  sword,  not  only  for  the  defence  and 

(a)  See  Henr.  Canisii  Lectiones  Antiquae,  torn.  iii.  part  II. 
p.  34.  where  we  find  the  life  of  Otho,  who,  A.D.  1189,  was 
canonized  by  Clement  III.  See  the  Acta  Sanctor.  mensis 
Julii.  torn.  i.  p.  349.  Dan.  Crameri  Chronicon.  Eccles. 
Pomeranise,  lib.  i.  as  also  a  learned  Dissertation  concerning 
the  conversion  of  the  Pomeranians  by  the  ministry  of  Otho, 
written  in  the  German  language  by  Christopher  Schotgen, 
and  published  at  Stargard  in  the  year  1724'.  Add  to  these 
Mabillon,  Anna!.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  123.  146.  323. 


PARTl4 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events. 

happiness  of  his,  people,  but  also  for  the  propa-  CENT. 
gation  and  advancement  of  Christianity;  and  ' 
wherever  his  arms  were  successful,  there  he  pulled 
down  the  temples  and  images  of  the  gods,  de- 
stroyed their  altars,  laid  waste  their  -sacred  groves, 
and  substituted  in  their  place  the  Christian  wor- 
ship, which  deserved  to  be  propagated  by  better 
means  than  the  sword,  by  the  authority  of  reason, 
rather  than  by  the  despotic  voice  of  power.  The 
island  of  Rugen,  which  lies  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Pomerania,  submitted  to  the  victorious  arms 
of  Waldemar,  A.  D.  1168;  and  its  fierce  and 
savage  inhabitants,  who  were,  in  reality,  no  more 
than  a  band  of  robbers  and  pirates,  were  obliged, 
by  that  prince,  to  hear  the  instrucnftns  of  the 
pious  and  learned  doctors  that  followed  his  army, 
and  to  receive  the  Christian  worship.  This  salu- 
tary work  was  brought  to  perfection  by  Absalom, 
archbishop  of  Lunden,  a  man  of  a  superior  genius, 
and  of  a  most  excellent  character  in  every  respect, 
whose  eminent  merit  raised  him  to  the  summit  of 
power,  and  engaged  Waldemar  to  place  him  at  the 
head  of  affairs 


III.  The  Finlanders  received  the  gospel  in  the  The  Fi"- 
same  manner  in  which  it  had   been  propagated 

(b)  Saxo-Grammaticus,  Histor.  Danic.  lib.  xiv.  p.  239.  — 
Helmoldus,  Chron.  Sclavorura,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xii.  p.  234.  and 
Henr.  Bangertus,  ad.  h.  1.  —  Pontoppidani  Annales  Ecclesiae 
Danicae,  torn.  i.  p.  404. 

lUf0  Besides  the  historians  here  mentioned  by  Dr.  Mosheim,  "i 
we  refer  the  curious  reader  to  an  excellent  history  of  Den- 
mark, written  in  French  by  M.  Mallet,  professor  at  Copen- 
hagen. In  the  first  volume  of  this  history,  the  ingenious 
and  learned  author  has  given  a  very  interesting  account  of 
the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  northern  parts  of  Europe, 
and  a  particular  relation  of  the  exploits  of  Absalom,  who 
was,  at  the  same  time,  archbishop,  general,  admiral,  and 
prime  minister,  and  who  led  the  victorious  Danes  to  battle, 
by  sea  and  land,  without  neglecting  the  cure  of  souls,  or 
diminishing,  in  the  least,  his  pious  labours  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  gospel  abroad,  and  its  maintenance  and  support 
at  home. 


4  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  isle  of  Rugen.  They 
xii.  were  a}so  a  fierce  anc[  savage  people,  who  lived  by 

J^l_^l__  plunder,  and  infested  Sweden  in  a  terrible  manner 
by  their  perpetual  incursions,  until,  after  many 
bloody  battles,  they  were  totally  defeated  by 
Eric  IX.  and  were,  in  consequence  thereof,  re- 
duced under  the  Swedish  yoke.  Historians  differ 
about  the  precise  time  when  this  conquest  was 
completed  (c) ;  but  they  are  all  unanimous  in 
their  accounts  of  its  effects.  The  Finlanders 
were  commanded  to  embrace  the  religion  of  the 
conqueror,  which  the  greatest  part  of  them  did, 
though  with  the  utmost  reluctance  (d).  The 
founder  and  ruler  of  this  new  church  was  Henry, 
archbishop  of  Upsal,  who  accompanied  the  vic- 
torious monarch  in  that  bloody  campaign.  This 
prelate,  whose  zeal  was  not  sufficiently  tempered 
with  the  mild  and  gentle  spirit  of  the  religion  he 
taught,  treated  the  new  converts  with  great  seve- 
rity, and  was  assassinated  at  last  in  a  cruel  manner 
on  account  of  the  heavy  penance  he  imposed  upon 
a  person  of  great  authority,  who  had  been  guilty 
of  manslaughter.  This  melancholy  event  procured 
Henry  the  honours  of  saintship  and  martyrdom, 
which  were  solemnly  conferred  upon  him  by  Pope 
Adrian  IV.  (e) 

The  Livo-  IV.  The  propagation  of  the  gospel  among  the 
Livonians  was  attended  with  much  difficulty,  and 
also  with  horrible  scenes  of  cruelty  and  bloodshed. 


(c)  Most  writers,  with  Baronius,  place  this  event  in  the 
year  1151.     Different,  however,  from  this  is  the  chronology 
of  Vastovius  and  Oernhielmius,  the  former  placing  it    A.  D. 
1 150,  and  the  latter,  A.  D.  1157. 

(d)  Oernhielmii  Histor.  Eccles.  gentis  Suecorum,  lib.  iv . 
cap.  iv.  sect.  13. — Jo.  Locenii  Histor.  Suecica.  lib.  iii.  p.  76. 
ed.  Francof. — Erlandi  Vita  Erici  Sancti,  cap.  vii. — Vastovii 
Vitis  Aquilonia,  p.  65. 

(e)  Vastovii  Vitis   Aquilon.   seu  Vitae  Sanctorum  regni 
Suegothici,  p.  62.      Eric   Benzelii,    Monumenta    Ecclesise 
Suegothicae,  part  I.  p.  33. 


PART  I. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  5 

The  first  missionary,  who  attempted  the  conver-  CENT. 
sion  of  that  savage  people,  was  Mainard,  a  re- 
gular canon  of  St.  Augustin,  in  the  monastery  of 
Sigeberg,  who,  towards  the  conclusion  of  this 
century  (jf),  travelled  to  Livonia,  with  a  com- 
pany of  merchants  of  Bremen,  who  traded  thither, 
and  improved  this  opportunity  of  spreading  the 
light  of  the  gospel  in  that  barbarous  region  of  su- 
perstition and  darkness.  The  instructions  and 
exhortations  of  this  zealous  apostle  were  little  at- 
tended to,  and  produced  little  or  no  effect  upon 
that  uncivilized  nation :  whereupon  he  addressed 
himself  to  the  Roman  pontiff,  Urban  III.  who 
consecrated  him  bishop  of  the  Livonians,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  declared  a  holy  war  against  that 
obstinate  people.  This  war,  which  was  at  first 
carried  on  against  the  inhabitants  of  the  province 
of  Esthonia,  was  continued  with  still  greater  vi- 
gour and  rendered  more  universal  by  Berthold, 
abbot  of  Lucca,  who  left  his  monastery  to  share 
the  labours  and  laurels  of  Mainard,  whom  he,  ac- 
cordingly, succeeded  in  the  see  of  Livonia.  The 
new  bishop  marched  into  that  province  at  the 
head  of  a  powerful  army  which  he  had  raised  in 
Saxony,  preached  the  gospel  sword  in  hand,  and 
proved  its  truth  by  blows  instead  of  arguments. 
Albert,  canon  of  Bremen,  became  the  third  bi- 
shop of  Livonia,  and  followed,  with  a  barbarous 
enthusiasm,  the  same  military  methods  of  conver- 
sion that  had  been  practised  by  his  predecessor. 
He  entered  Livonia,  A.  D.  1198,  with  a  fresh 
body  of  troops  drawn  out  of  Saxony,  and  encamp- 
ing at  Riga,  instituted  there,  by  the  direction  of 
the  Roman  pontiff,  Innocent  III.  the  military 
order  of  the  knights  sword-bearers  (^),  who  were 
commissioned  to  dragoon  the  Livonians  into  the 


(/)  In  the  year  1186. 

(g)  Equestris  Ordo  Militum  Ensiferorum. 


6 

CENT. 

XII. 
PART  I. 


The  Sda- 
vonians. 


The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

profession  of  Christianity,  and  to  oblige  them, 
by  force  of  arms,  to  receive  the  benefits  of  bap- 
tism (//).  New  legions  were  sent  from  Germany  to 
second  the  efforts,  and  add  efficacy  to  the  mission 
of  these  booted  apostles  ;  and  they,  together  with 
the  knights  sword-bearers,  so  cruelly  oppressed, 
slaughtered,  and  tormented  this  wretched  people, 
that  exhausted,  at  length,  and  unable  to  stand 
any  longer  firm  against  the  arm  of  persecution, 
strengthened  still  by  new  accessions  of  power, 
they  abandoned  the  statues  of  their  pagan  deities, 
and  substituted  in  their  places  the  images  of  the 
saints.  But  while  they  received  the  blessings  of 
the  gospel,  they  were,  at  the  same  time,  deprived 
of  all  earthly  comforts ;  for  their  lands  and  pos- 
sessions were  taken  from  them,  with  the  most 
odious  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  violence,  and 
the  knights  and  bishops  divided  the  spoil  (z). 

V.  None  of  the  northern  nations  had  a  more 
rooted  aversion  to  the  Christians,  and  a  more  ob- 
stinate antipathy  to  their  religion,  than  the  Scla- 
vonians,  a  rough  and  barbarous  people,  who  in- 
habited the  coast  of  the  Baltic  sea.  .  This  excited 
the  zeal  of  several  neighbouring  princes,  and  of  a 
multitude  of  pious  missionaries,  who  united  their 
efforts,  in  order  to  conquer  the  prejudices  of  this 
people,  and  to  open  their  eyes  upon  the  light  of 
the  gospel.  Henry,  Duke  of  Saxony,  surnamed 
the  Lion,  distinguished  himself  in  a  particular 
manner,  by  the  ardour  which  he  discovered  in 
the  execution  of  this  pious  design,  as  well  as  by 
the  wise  methods  he  employed  to  render  it  suc- 

(7i)  See  Hen.  Leonh.  Schurzfleischii  Historia  Ordinis  En- 
siferorum  Equitum,  Witteberg.  1701,  8vo. 

(i)  See  the  Origines  Livoniae  seu  Chronicon  vetus  Livoni- 
cum,  published  in  folio  at  Francfort,  in  the  year  1740,  by  Jo. 
Daniel  Gruberus,  and  enriched  with  ample  and  learned  ob- 
servations and  notes,  in  which  the  laborious  author  enume- 
rates all  the  writers  of  the  Livonian  history,  and  corrects 
their  mistakes. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events. 

cessful.  Among  other  measures  that  were  proper 
for  this  purpose,  he  restored  from  their  ruins,  and 
endowed  richly,  three  bishoprics  (&)  that  had  been 
ravaged  and  destroyed  by  these  barbarians  ;  to 
wit,  the  bishoprics  of  Ratzebourg  and  Schwerin, 
and  that  of  Oldenbourg,  which  was  afterwards 
transplanted  to  Lubec.  The  most  eminent  of  the 
Christian  doctors,  who  attempted  the  conversion 
of  the  Sclavonians,  was  Vicelinus,  a  native  of 
Hamelen,  a  man  of  extraordinary  merit,  who  sur- 
passed almost  all  his  contemporaries  in  genuine 
piety  and  solid  learning,  and  who,  after  having 
presided  many  years  in  the  society  of  the  regular 
canons  of  St.  Augustin  at  Falderen,  was  at  length 
consecrated  bishop  of  Oldenbourg.  This  excel- 
lent man  had  employed  the  last  thirty  years  of  his 
life  (/),  amidst  numberless  vexations,  dangers,  and 
difficulties,  in  instructing  the  Sclavonians,  and 
exhorting  them  to  comply  with  the  invitations  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  ;  and  as  his  pious  labours 
were  directed  by  true  wisdom,  and  carried  on  with 
the  most  indefatigable  industry  and  zeal,  so  were 
they  attended  with  much  fruit,  even  among  that 


r.  Mosheim's  account  of  this  matter  is  very  differ- 
ent from  that  which  is  given  by  Fleury,  who  asserts,  that  it 
was  Hartwick,  archbishop  of  Bremen,  who  restored  the  three 
ruined  sees,  and  consecrated  Vicelinus,  bishop  of  Oldenbourg; 
and  that  having  done  this  without  addressing  himself  to  Henry, 
that  prince  seized  the  tithes  of  Vicelinus,  until  a  reconciliation 
was  afterwards  brought  about  between  the  offended  prince 
and  the  worthy  bishop.  See  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  livr.  Ixix. 
p.  665.  668.  edit.  Bruxelle.  Fleury,  in  this  and  other  parts 
of  his  history,  shows,  that  he  is  but  indifferently  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  Germany,  and  has  not  drawn  from  the  best 
sources.  The  authorities  which  Dr.  Mosheim  produces  for 
his  account  of  the  matter,  are  the  OriginesGuelphicse,  torn.  iii. 
p.  16.  19.  34-.  55.  61.  63.  72.  82.  with  the  celebrated  Preface 
of  Scheidius,  sect.  xiv.  p.  41.  Ludewig's  Reliquiae  Manu- 
scriptorurn,  torn.  vi.  p.  230.  Jo.  Ern.  de  Westphalen,  Monu- 
menta  inedita  llerum  Cimbricarum  et  Megapolens.  torn.  ii. 
p.  1998. 

(/)  That  is,  from  the  year  1  124  to  the  year  1154,  in  which 
he  died. 


PART  I. 


8  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    fierce  and  untractable  people.     Nor  was  his  mi- 
XIL      nistry  among  the  Sclavonians  the  only  circum- 

PATtT    T 

1  stance  that  redounds  to  the  honour  of  his  memory ; 
the  history  of  his  life  and  actions  in  general  fur- 
nishes proofs  of  his  piety  and  zeal,  sufficient  to 
transmit  his  name  to  the  latest  generations  (nT). 
hejudg-        VI.  It  is  needless  to  repeat  here  the  observa- 
we  nave  na^  so  °ften  occasion  to  make  uon 


form  of       such  conversions  as  these  we  have  been  now  relat- 
these  con-    j         or  ^     advertise  the  reader  that  the  savage 

versions. 

nations,  who  were  thus  dragooned  into  the  church, 
became  the  disciples  of  Christ,  not  so  much  in 
reality,  as  in  outward  appearance.  [  E3?3  They 
professed,  with  an  inward  reluctance,  a  religion 
which  was  inculcated  by  violence  and  bloodshed, 
which  recalled  to  their  remembrance  nothing  but 
scenes  of  desolation  and  misery  ;  and  which,  in- 
deed, when  considered  in  the  representations  that 
were  given  of  it  by  the  greatest  part  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, was  but  a  few  degrees  removed  from  the 
absurdities  of  paganism.]]  The  pure  and  rational 
religion  of  the  gospel  was  never  presented  to  these 
unhappy  nations  in  its  native  simplicity ;  they 
were  only  taught  to  appease  the  Deity,  and  to 
render  him  propitious,  by  a  senseless  round  of 
trifling  ceremonies  and  bodily  exercises,  which, 
in  many  circumstances,  resembled  the  supersti- 
tions they  were  obliged  to  renounce,  and  might 
have  been  easily  reconciled  with  them,  had  it  not 
been  that  the  name  and  history  of  Christ,  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  and  some  diversity  between 
certain  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  two  religions, 

(m)  There  is  a  particular  and  ample  account  of  Vicelinus 
in  the  CimbriaLiterataof  Mollerus,  torn.  ii.  p.  910,  and  in  the 
Res  Hamburg,  of  Lambecius,  lib.  ii.  p.  12.  See  also  upon  this 
subject  the  Originis  Neomanaster.  et  Bordesholmens.  of  the 
most  learned  and  industrious  Job.  Era.  de  Westphalen,  which 
are  published  in  the  second  tome  of  the  Monumenta  inedita 
Cimbrica,  p.  234-4-,  and  the  Preface  to  this  tome,  p.  33.  There 
is  in  this  work  a  print  of  Vicelinus  well  engraven. 


PAK.  1     1  . 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events. 

opposed  this  coalition.     Besides,  the  missionaries,    CENT. 
whose  zeal  for  imposing  the  name  of  Christians 

•  i  i  1  C* 

upon  this  people  was  so  vehement,  and  even  ru- 
rious,  were  extremely  indulgent  in  all  other  re- 
spects, and  opposed  their  prejudices  and  vices  with 
much  gentleness  and  forbearance.  They  permit- 
ted them  to  retain  several  rites  and  observances 
that  were  in  direct  opposition  to  the  spirit  of 
Christianity,  and  to  the  nature  of  true  piety. 
The  truth  of  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  this, 
that  the  leading  viewrs  of  these  Christian  heralds 
and  propagators  of  the  faith,  a  small  number  ex- 
cepted,  were  rather  turned  towards  the  advance- 
ment of  their  own  interests,  and  the  confirming 
and  extending  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  pon- 
tiffs, than  towards  the  true  conversion  of  these 
savage  pagans  ;  that  conversion  which  consists  in 
the  removal  of  ignorance,  the  correction  of  error, 
and  the  reformation  of  vice. 

VII.    A  great  revolution  in   Asiatic   Tartary,  The  state  of 
which  borders  upon  Cathay,  changed  the  face  of  ^11^ 
things  in  that  distant  region  about  the  commence-  changes  in 
ment  of  this  century,  and  proved,  by  its  effects, 
extremely  beneficial  to  the  Christian  cause.     To-  tians- 
wards  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding  century, 
died  Koiremchan,  otherwise  called  Kenchan,  the 
most  powerful  monarch  that  was  known  in  the 
eastern  regions  of  Asia  ;  and  while  that  mighty 
kingdom  was  deprived  of  its  chief,  it  was  invaded 
with    such    uncommon  valour  and  success,  by  a 
Nestorian  priest,  whose  name  was  John,  that  it 
fell  before  his  victorious  arms,  and  acknowledged 
this  warlike  and  enterprising  presbyter  as  its  mon- 
arch.    This  was  the  famous  Prester  John,  whose 
territory  was,  for  a  long  time,  considered  by  the 
Europeans  as  a  second  paradise,   as  the  seat  of 
opulence   and   complete  felicity.      As   he  was  a 
presbyter  before  his  elevation  to  the  royal  dignity, 
many  continued  to  call  him  Presbyter  John,  even 


10  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    when  he  was  seated  on  the  throne  (n) ;   but  his 
XIL      kingly  name  was  Ungchan.      The  high  notions 


PART  r. 


(n)  The  account  I  have  here  given  of  this  famous  pres- 
byter, commonly  called  Prester  John,  who  was,  for  a  long 
time,  considered  as  the  greatest  and  happiest  of  all  earthly 
monarchs,  is  what  appeared  to  me  the  most  probable  among 
the  various  relations  that  have  been  given  of  the  life  and 
adventures  of  that  extraordinary  man.  This  account  is  more- 
over confirmed  by  the  testimonies  of  contemporary  writers, 
whose  knowledge  and  impartiality  render  them  worthy  of 
credit;  such  as  William  of  Tripoli,  (see  Dufresne's  Adnot.  ad 
Vitam  Ludovici  Sti.  a  Joinvillio  scriptam,  p.  89.)  as  also  a  cer- 
tain bishop  of  Gabala,  mentioned  by  Otto  Frising.  Chronic, 
lib.  vii.  cap.xxxiii.  See  also  Guillaume  Rubruquis,  Voyage, 
cap.  xviii.  p.  36.  in  the  Antiqua  in  Asiam  Itinera,  collected 
by  father  Bergeron,  and  Alberic  in  Chronico.  ad  A.  11 65, 
and  1 170,  in  Leibnitii  Accessionibus  Historicis,  torn.  ii.  p.  345. 
355.  It  is  indeed  surprising,  that  such  authentic  records  as 
these  should  have  escaped  the  observation  of  the  learned, 
and  that  so  many  different  opinions  should  have  been  advanced 
concerning  Prester  John,  and  the  place  of  his  residence.  But 
it  is  too  generally  the  fate  of  learned  men,  to  overlook  those 
accounts  that  carry  the  plainest  marks  of  evidence ;  and,  from 
a  passion  for  the  marvellous,  to  plunge  into  the  regions  of 
uncertainty  and  doubt.  In  the  fifteenth  centmy,  John.  II. 
king  of  Portugal,  employed  Pedro  Couvillanio  in  a  laborious 
inquiry  into  the  real  situation  of  the  kingdom  of  Prester  John. 
The  curious  voyager  undertook  this  task,  and,  for  information 
in  the  matter,  travelled  with  a  few  companions  into  Abys- 
sinia;  and,  observing  in  the  emperor  of  the  Abyssinians,  or 
Ethiopians,  many  circumstances  that  resembled  the  accounts 
which,  at  that  time,  prevailed  in  Europe  concerning  Prester 
John,  he  persuaded  himself  that  he  had  fulfilled  his  commis- 
sion, and  found  out  the  residence  of  that  extraordinary  mo- 
narch, who  was  the  object  of  his  researches.  His  opinion 
gained  easily  credit  in  Europe,  which  had  not  as  yet  emerged 
out  of  its  ignorance  and  barbarism.  See  Morinus,  De  Sacris 
Eccles.  Ordinationibus,  part  II.  p.  367.  But  a  new  light  was 
cast  upon  this  matter  in  the  seventeenth  century,  by  the  pub- 
lication of  several  pieces,  which  the  industry  of  the  curious 
drew  forth  from  their  obscurity,  and  by  which  a  great  number 
of  learned  men  were  engaged  to  abandon  the  Portuguese 
opinion,  and  were  convinced  that  Prester  John  reigned  in 
Asia,  though  they  still  continued  to  dispute  about  the  situ- 
ation of  his  kingdom,  and  other  particular  circumstances. 
There  are,  notwithstanding  all  this,  some  men  of  the  most 
eminent  learning  in  our  times,  who  maintain,  that  John  was 
emperor  of  the  Abyssinians,  and  thus  prefer  the  Portuguese 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  H 

the  Greeks  and  Latins  generally  entertained  of  the    CENT. 
grandeur  and  magnificence  of  this  royal  presbyter     XIL 

.         n  ,1  i     ,  Ji  ,J  PART   I. 

were  principally  owing  to  the  letters  he  wrote  to , 

the  Roman  emperor  Frederic  I.  and  to  Emanuel 
emperor  of  the  Greeks,  in  which,  puffed  up  with 
prosperity,  and  flushed  with  success,  he  vaunts  his 
victories  over  the  neighbouring  nations  that  dis- 
puted his  passage  to  the  throne  ;  describes,  in  the 
most  pompous  and  extravagant  tenns,  the  splen- 
dor of  his  riches,  the  grandeur  of  his  state,  and 
the  extent  of  his  dominions,  and  exalts  himself  far 
above  all  other  earthly  monarchs.  All  this  was 
easily  believed,  and  the  Nestorians  were  extremely 
zealous  in  confirming  the  boasts  of  their  vain- 
glorious prince.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
or,  as  others  think,  his  brother,  whose  name  was 
David,  though,  in  common  discourse,  he  was  also 
called  Prester  John,  as  his  predecessor  had  been. 
The  reign  of  David  was  far  from  being  happy, 
nor  did  he  end  his  days  in  peace  ;  Genghiz  Kan, 
the  great  and  warlike  emperor  of  the  Tartars,  in- 
vaded his  territories  towards  the  conclusion  of  this 
century,  and  deprived  him  both  of  his  life  and  his 
dominions. 

VIII.  The  new  kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  which  The  affairs 
had  been  erected  by  the  holy  warriors  of  France,  °.f  thephiis- 

,,  1-          •  ^1  T  tlaI1S    in    Pfl- 

towards  the  conclusion  of  the  preceding  century,  lestine  in  a 
seemed  to  flourish  considerably  at  the  beginning  stea°tgning 
of  this,  and  to  rest  upon  firm  and  solid  founda- 
tions.    This  prosperous  scene  was,  however,  but 
transitory,  and  was  soon  succeeded  by  the  most 
terrible  calamities  and  desolations.     For  when  the 


opinion,  though  destitute  of  authentic  proofs  and  testimonies, 
to  the  other  above  mentioned,  though  supported  by  the 
strongest  evidence,  and  the  most  unquestionable  authorities. 
See  Euseb.  Renaudot,  Hist.  Patriarch.  Alexandr.  p.  223. 
337.  Jos.  Franc.  Lafitau,  Hist,  des  Decouvertes  des  Portu- 
gais.  torn.  i.  p.  58.  and  torn.  iii.  p.  57.  Henr.  le  Grand, 
Diss.  de  Johaiine  Presbytero  in  Lobo's  Voyage  de  Abyssinie, 
torn.  i.  p.  295. 


12  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  Mahometans  saw  vast  numbers  of  those  that  had 
xii.  engaged  in  this  holy  war  returning  into  Europe, 
, 1  and  the  Christian  chiefs  that  remained  in  Pales- 
tine divided  into  factions,  and  advancing,  every 
one  his  private  interest,  without  any  regard  to  the 
public  good,  they  resumed  their  courage,  reco- 
vered from  the  terror  and  consternation  into 
which  they  had  been  thrown  by  the  amazing  va- 
lour and  rapid  success  of  the  European  legions, 
and  gathering  troops  and  soliciting  succours  from 
all  quarters,  they  harassed  and  exhausted  the 
Christians  by  invasions  and  wars  without  inter- 
ruption. The  Christians,  on  the  other  hand,  sus- 
tained their  efforts  with  their  usual  fortitude,  and 
maintained  their  ground  during  many  years  ;  but 
when  Atabec  Zenghi  (o),  after  a  long  siege,  made 
himself  master  of  the  city  of  Edessa,  and  threat- 
ened Antioch  with  the  same  fate,  their  courage 
began  to  fail,  and  a  diffidence  in  their  own 
strength  obliged  them  to  turn  their  eyes  once 
more  towards  Europe.  They  accordingly  im- 
plored, in  the  most  lamentable  strain,  the  assist- 
ance of  the  European  princes  ;  and  requested  that 
a  new  army  of  cross-bearing  champions  might  be 
sent  to  support  their  tottering  empire  in  the  Holy 
Land.  Their  intreaties  were  favourably  received 
by  the  Roman  pontiffs,  who  left  no  method  of 
persuasion  unemployed,  that  might  engage  the 
emperor  and  other  Christian  princes  to  execute  a 
new  expedition  into  Palestine. 

The  crusade      IX.    This  new  expedition  was  not,  however, 
renewed,      resolved  upon  with  such  unanimity  and  precipita- 


(o)  Atabeck  was  a  title  of  honour  given  by  the  sultans 
to  the  viceroys  or  lieutenants,  whom  they  intrusted  with  the 
government  of  their  provinces.  The  Latin  authors,  who 
have  wrote  the  history  of  this  holy  war,  and  of  whom  Bon- 

§arsius  has  given  us  a  complete  list,  call  this  Atabeck  Zenghi, 
anguinus.      See  Herbelot,   Biblioth.  Orient,  at  the   word 
Atabeck,  p.  14-2. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events. 

tion  as  the  former  had  been ;  it  was  the  subject  CENT. 
of  long-  deliberation,  and  its  expediency  was  keenly  XIL 
debated  both  in  the  cabinets  of  princes,  and  in  J^Ll! 
the  assemblies  of  the  clergy  and  the  people.  Ber- 
nard, the  famous  abbot  of  Clairval,  a  man  of  the 
boldest  resolution  and  of  the  greatest  authority, 
put  an  end  to  these  disputes  under  the  pontifi- 
cate of  Eugenius  III.  who  had  been  his  disciple, 
and  who  was  wholly  governed  by  his  counsels. 
This  eloquent  and  zealous  ecclesiastic  preached 
the  cross,  i.  e.  the  crusade  in  France  and  Ger- 
many, with  great  ardour  and  success  ;  and  in  the 
grand  parliament  assembled  at  Vezelai,  A.  D. 
1146,  at  which  Lewis  VII.  king  of  France,  with 
his  queen,  and  a  prodigious  concourse  of  the 
principal  nobility  were  present,  Bernard  recom- 
mended this  holy  expedition  with  such  a  per- 
suasive power,  and  declared  with  such  assurance 
that  he  had  a  divine  commission  to  foretel  its 
glorious  success,  that  the  king,  the  queen,  and 
all  the  nobles,  immediately  put  on  the  military 
cross,  and  prepared  themselves  for  the  voyage 
into  Palestine.  Conrad  III.  emperor  of  Germany, 
was,  for  some  time,  unmoved  by  the  exhortations 
of  Bernard  ;  but  he  was  soon  gained  over  by  the 
urgent  solicitations  of  the  fervent  abbot,  and 
followed,  accordingly,  the  example  of  the  French 
monarch.  The  two  princes,  each  at  the  head  of 
a  numerous  army,  set  out  for  Palestine,  to  which 
they  were  to  march  by  different  roads.  But, 
before  their  arrival  in  the  Holy  Land,  the  greatest 
part  of  their  forces  were  melted  away,  and  pe- 
rished miserably,  some  by  famine,  some  by  the 
sword  of  the  Mahometans,  some  by  shipwreck, 
and  a  considerable  number  by  the  perfidious 
cruelty  of  the  Greeks,  who  looked  upon  the 
western  nations  as  more  to  be  feared  than  the  Ma- 
hometans themselves.  Lewis  VII.  left  his  king- 
dom A.D.  1147,  and,  in  the  month  of  March  of 


14  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  the  following  year,  he  arrived  at  Antioch,  with 
XIL  the  wretched  remains  of  his  army,  exhausted  and 
dejected  by  the  hardships  they  had  endured.  Con- 
rad set  out  also  in  the  year  1 147,  in  the  month 
of  May  ;  and  in  November  following,  he  arrived 
at  Nice,  where  he  joined  the  French  anny,  after 
having  lost  the  greatest  part  of  his  own,  by  cala- 
mities of  various  kinds.  From  Nice,  the  two 
princes  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  1148,  from 
whence  they  led  back  into  Europe,  the  year  fol- 
lowing, the  miserable  handful  of  troops,  which  had 
survived  the  disasters  they  met  with  in  this  expe- 
dition. Such  was  the  unhappy  issue  of  this  second 
crusade,  which  was  rendered  ineffectual  by  a 
variety  of  causes,  but  more  particularly  by  the 
jealousies  and  divisions  that  reigned  among  the 
Christian  chiefs  in  Palestine.  Nor  was  it  more 
ineffectual  in  Palestine  than  it  was  detrimental  to 
Europe,  by  draining  the  wealth  of  its  fairest  pro- 
vinces, and  destroying  such  a  prodigious  number 
of  its  inhabitants  ( p). 

The  king-        X.  The  unhappy  issue  of  this  second  expedition 

rus"iemJe"  was  not  however  sufficient,  when  considered  alone, 

overturned,  to  render  the  affairs  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine 

entirely  desperate.     Had  their  chiefs  and  princes 

laid  aside  their  animosities  and  contentions,  and 

attacked   the  common   enemy  with  their  united 

force,  they  would  have  soon  repaired  their  losses, 

and  recovered  their  glory.     But  this  was  far  from 

being  the  case.     A  fatal  corruption  of  sentiments 

and  manners  reigned  among  all  ranks  and  orders. 


(/>)  Besides  the  historians  enumerated  by  Bongarsius,  see 
Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  399.  404.  407.  4-17. 
4-51.  Jac.  Gervasii  Histoire  de  1'Abbe  Suger,  torn.  iii.  p. 
104.  128.  173.  190.  C239.  This  was  the  famous  Suger,  abbot 
of  St.  Denis,  who  had  seconded  the  exhortations  of  Bernard 
in  favour  of  the  crusade,  and  whom  Lewis  appointed  regent 
of  France  during  his  absence.  Vertot,  Histoire  des  Cheva- 
liers de  Malte,  torn.  i.  p.  86.  Joh.  Jac.  Mascovius,  De  Rebus 
Imperii  sub  Conrado  III. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  15 

Both  the  people  and  their  leaders,  and  more  CENT. 
especially  the  latter,  abandoned  themselves  with-  ^XIL 
out  reluctance  to  all  the  excesses  of  ambition,  JL_^__ 
avarice,  and  injustice ;  they  indulged  themselves 
in  the  practice  of  all  sorts  of  vices ;  and  by  their 
intestine  quarrels,  jealousies,  and  discords,  they 
weakened  their  efforts  against  the  enemies  that 
surrounded  them  on  all  sides,  and  consumed  their 
strength  by  thus  unhappily  dividing  it.  Saladin, 
viceroy,  or  rather  sultan  of  Egypt  and  Syria  (</), 
and  the  most  valiant  chief  of  whom  the  Maho- 
metan annals  boast,  took  advantage  of  these  la- 
mentable divisions.  He  waged  war  against  the 
Christians  with  the  utmost  valour  and  success ; 
took  prisoner  Guy  of  Lusignan,  king  of  Jerusa- 
lem, in  a  fatal  battle  fought  near  Tiberias,  A.  D. 
1187  ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the  same  year,  re- 
duced Jerusalem  itself  under  his  dominion  (r). 
The  carnage  and  desolations  that  accompanied 
this  dreadful  campaign,  threw  the  affairs  of  the 
Christians  .  in  the  east  into  the  most  desperate 
condition,  and  left  them  no  glimpse  of  hope,  but 
what  arose  from  the  expected  succours  of  the 
European  princes.  These  succours  were  obtained 
for  them  by  the  Roman  pontiffs  with  much  diffi- 
culty, and  in  consequence  of  repeated  solicitations 


Ifgp0  (<?)  Saladin,  so  called  by  the  western  writers,  Salah'- 
addin  by  the  Orientals,  was  no  longer  vizir  or  viceroy  of 
Egypt,  when  he  undertook  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  but  had 
usurped  the  sovereign  power  in  that  country,  and  had  also 
added  to  his  dominions,  by  right  of  conquest,  several  pro- 
vinces of  Syria. 

(r)  See  the  Life  of  Saladin  by  Bohao'ddin  Ebn  Sheddad, 
an  Arabian  writer,  whose  history  of  that  warlike  sultan  was 
published  at  Ley  den  in  the  year  1732,  by  the  late  celebrated 
professor  Albert  Schultens,  and  accompanied  with  an  excel- 
lent Latin  translation.  See  also  Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Orient, 
at  the  article  Salah'addin,  p.  742.  and  Marigny's  Histoire 
des  Arabes,  torn.  iv.  p.  289.  Iffgp*  But  above  all,  see  the 
learned  History  of  the  Arabians  in  the  Modern  Part  of  the 
Universal  History. 


1C  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and  entreaties.     But  the  event,  as  we  shall  now 
purr  i    see>  was   ^7  no   means  answerable   to   the  deep 

L  schemes  that  were  concerted,  and  the  pains  that 

were  employed,  for  the  support  of  the  tottering 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

A  third  XL     The   third   expedition   was   undertaken, 

Semtn"""  A.  D.  1189,  by  Frederic  I.  surnamed  Barbarossa, 
emperor  of  Germany,  who,  with  a  prodigious 
army,  marched  through  several  Grecian  provinces, 
where  he  had  innumerable  difficulties  and  obsta- 
cles to  overcome,  into  the  Lesser  Asia,  from 
whence,  after  having  defeated  the  sultan  of  Ico- 
nium,  he  penetrated  into  Syria.  His  valour  and 
conduct  promised  successful  and  glorious  cam- 
paigns to  the  army  he  commanded,  when,  by  an 
unhappy  accident,  he  lost  his  life  in  the  river 
Saleph  (s),  which  runs  through  Seleucia.  The 
manner  of  his  death  is  not  known  with  any  de- 
gree of  certainty ;  the  loss  however  of  such  an 
able  chief  dejected  the  spirits  of  his  troops,  so  that 
considerable  numbers  of  them  returned  into  Eu- 
rope. Those  that  remained  continued  the  wrar 
under  the  command  of  Frederic,  son  of  the  de- 
ceased emperor ;  but  the  greatest  part  of  them 
perished  miserably  by  a  pestilential  disorder,  which 
raged  with  prodigious  violence  in  the  camp,  and 
swept  off  vast  numbers  every  day.  The  new  ge- 
neral died  of  this  terrible  disease,  A.  D.  1 1JJ1  ; 
those  that  escaped  its  fury  were  dispersed,  and 
few  returned  to  their  own  country  (£). 


(5)  Maimbourg,  in  his  Histoire  des  Croisades,  and  Ma- 

rigni,  in  his  Hist,  du  xii.  Siecle,  say,  that  Frederic  perished 
in  the  Cydnus,  a  river  in  Cilicia.  But  they  are  easily  to  be 
reconciled  with  our  author,  since,  according  to  the  descrip- 
tions given  of  the  river  Saleph  by  several  learned  geo- 
graphers, and  among  others  by  Roger  the  Annalist,  it  appears 
that  the  Saleph  and  the  Cydnus  were  the  same  river  under 
different  names. 

(t)  See  an  ample  and  satisfactory  account  of  this  unhappy 
campaign  in  the  Life  of  Frederic  I.  written  in  German  by 
Henry  Count  Bunau,  p.  278.  293.  309. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  17 

XII.  The  example  of  Frederic  Barbarossa  was    CENT. 
followed,  in  the  year  1190,  by  Philip  Augustus, 
king  of  France,  and  lion-hearted  Richard,  king 


of  England.  These  two  monarchs  set  out  from  its  issi<- 
their  respective  dominions  with  a  considerable 
number  of  ships  of  war,  and  transports  (u\  arrived 
in  Palestine  in  the  year  1191,  each  at  the  head  of 
a  separate  army,  and  were  pretty  successful  in 
their  first  encounters  with  the  infidels.  After 
the  reduction  of  the  strong  city  of  Acca,  or  Ptole- 
mais,  which  had  been  defended  by  the  Moslems 
with  the  most  obstinate  valour,  the  French  mon- 
narch  returned  into  Europe,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1191,  leaving,  however,  behind  him,  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  army  which  he  had  conducted 
into  Palestine.  After  his  departure  the  king  of 
England  pushed  the  war  with  the  greatest  vigour, 
gave  daily  marks  of  his  heroic  intrepidity  and 
military  skill,  and  not  only  defeated  Saladin  in 
several  engagements,  but  also  made  himself  master 
of  Y'affa  (w)  and  Caesarea.  Deserted,  however, 
by  the  French  and  Italians,  and  influenced  by 
other  motives  and  considerations  of  the  greatest 
weight,  he  concluded,  A.  D.  1192,  with  Saladin, 
a  truce  of  three  years,  three  months,  and  as  many 
days,  and  soon  after  evacuated  Palestine  with  his 
whole  army  (\r).  Such  was  the  issue  of  the  third 
expedition  against  the  infidels,  which  exhausted 
England,  France,  and  Germany,  both  of  men  and 
money,  without  bringing  any  solid  advantage,  or 

Hgp0  (u)  The  learned  authors  of  the  Modern  Universal  Hi- 
story tell  us,  that  Philip  arrived  in  Palestine,  with  a  supply 
of  men,  money,  &c.  on  board  six  ships,  whereas  llenandot 
mentions  100  sail  as  employed  in  this  expedition.  The  fleet 
of  Richard  consisted  of  150  large  ships,  besides  galleys,  &c. 

(to)   More  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Joppa. 

(x)  Daniel,  Histoire  de  France,  torn.  iii.  p.  426. — Rapin 
Thoyras,  Histoire  d'Angleterre,  torn.  ii.  See  there  the  reign 
of  Richard,  Coeur  de  Lion. — Marigny,  Histoire  des  Arabes, 
torn.  iv.  p.  285. 

VOL.  III.  c 


18  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    giving  even  a  favourable  turn  to  the  affairs  of  the 
o  XIL      Christians  in  the  Holy  Land. 
_f '__      XIII.    These  bloody  wars  between  the  Chris- 
institution   tians  and   the    Mahometans  gave   rise   to   three 
ury  oSer"  famous  military  orders,  whose  office  it  was  to  de- 
of  knight-    stroy  the  robbers  that  infested  the  public  roads,  to 
harass  the  Moslems  by  perpetual  inroads  and  war- 
like achievements,  to  assist  the  poor  and  sick  pil- 
grims, whom  the  devotion  of  the  times  conducted 
to  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  to  perform  several  other 
services  that  tended  to  the  general  good  (#).    The 
first  of  these  orders  was  that  of  the  Knights  of  St. 
John  of  Jerusalem,  who  derived  their  name,  and 
particularly  that  of  Hospitallers,  from  an  hospital 
dedicated,  in  that  city,  to  St.  John  the  Baptist, 
in  which  certain  pious   and   charitable   brethren 
were   constantly   employed  in  relieving  and  re- 
freshing with  necessary  supplies  the  indigent  and 
diseased  pilgrims,  who  were  daily  arriving  at  Jeru- 
salem.    When   this  city  became   the   metropolis 
of  a  new  kingdom,  the  revenues  of  the  hospital 
were  so  prodigiously  increased  by  the  liberality  of 
several  princes,  and  the  pious  donations  of  such 
opulent  persons  as  frequented  the  holy  places,  that 
they  far  surpassed  the  wants  of  those  whom  they 
were  designed  to  cherish  and  relieve.     Hence  it 
was  that  Raymond  du  Puy,  who  was  the  ruler  of 
this  charitable  house,  offered  to  the  king  of  Jeru- 
salem to  make  war  upon  the  Mahometans  at  his 
own  expense,  seconded  by  his  brethren,  who  served 
under  him  in  this  famous  hospital.     Balduin  II. 
to  whom   this  proposal   was    made,   accepted    it 
readily,  and  the  enterprise  was  solemnly  approved 
of,  and  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
pontiff.     Thus,  all  of  a  sudden  the  world  was  sur- 
prised with  the  strange  transformation  of  a  devout 

(y)  The  writers,  who  have  given  the  history  of  these 
three  orders,  are  enumerated  by  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  Biblio- 
graph.  Antiquar.  p.  465.  but  his  enumeration  is  not  complete. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  19 

fraternity,  who  had  lived  remote  from  the  noise    CENT. 
and  tumult  of  arms,  in  the  performance  of  works  pA™;  x 

of  charity  and  mercy,  into  a  valiant  and  hardy 

band  of  warriors.  The  whole  order  was  upon 
this  occasion  divided  into  three  classes  ;  the  first 
contained  the  knights,  or  soldiers  of  illustrious 
birth,  who  were  to  unsheath  their  swords  in  the 
Christian  cause ;  in  the  second  were  compre- 
hended the  priests,  who  were  to  officiate  in  the 
churches  that  belonged  to  the  order ;  and  in  the 
third,  the  serving  brethren,  or  the  soldiers  of  low 
condition.  This  celebrated  order  gave,  upon  many 
occasions,  eminent  proofs  of  their  resolution  and 
valour,  and  acquired  immense  opulence,  by  their 
heroic  achievements.  When  Palestine  was  irre- 
coverably lost,  the  knights  passed  into  the  isle  of 
Cyprus  ;  they  afterwards  made  themselves  masters 
of  the  isle  of  Rhodes,  where  they  maintained 
themselves  for  a  long  time  ;  but  being,  at  length, 
driven  thence  by  the  Turks,  they  received  from 
the  emperor  Charles  V.  a  grant  of  the  island  of 
Malta,  where  their  chief,  or  grand  commander, 
still  resides  (*). 

XIV.  Another  order,  which  was  entirely  of  a  The  knights 
military  nature,  was  that  of  the  knights  templars,  teniPlars 
so  called  from  a  palace,  adjoining  to  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  which  was  appropriated  to  their  use 
for  a  certain  time  by  Balduin  II.  The  founda- 
tions of  this  order  were  laid  at  Jerusalem,  in  the 
year  1118,  by  Hugues  des  Payens,  Geoffry  of  St. 
Aldemar,  or  St.  Omer,  as  some  will  have  it,  and 
seven  other  persons  whose  names  are  unknown; 
but  it  was  not  before  the  year  1128,  that  it  ac- 
quired a  proper  degree  of  stability,  by  being  con- 

(z)  The  best  and  the  most  recent  history  of  this  order  is 
that  which  was  composed  by  Vertot  at  the  request  of  the 
knights  of  Malta;  it  was  first  published  at  Paris,  and  after- 
wards at  Amsterdam,  in  five  volumes  8vo.  in  the  year  1732. 
See  also  Helyot's  Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  iii.  p.  72. 


PART 


20  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  firmed  solemnly  in  the  council  of  Troyes,  and 
subjected  to  a  rule  of  discipline  drawn  up  by  St. 
Bernard  (a).  These  warlike  templars  were  to 
defend  and  support  the  cause  of  Christianity  by 
force  of  arms,  to  have  inspection  over  the  public 
roads,  and  to  protect  the  pilgrims,  who  came  to 
visit  Jerusalem,  against  the  insults  and  barbarity 
of  the  Mahometans.  The  order  flourished  for 
some  time,  and  acquired,  by  the  valour  of  its 
knights,  immense  riches,  and  an  eminent  degree 
of  military  renown  ;  but,  as  their  prosperity  in- 
creased, their  vices  were  multiplied,  and  their 
arrogance,  luxury,  and  inhuman  cruelty  rose  at 
last  to  such  a  monstrous  height,  that  their  privi- 
leges were  revoked,  and  their  order  suppressed 
with  the  most  terrible  circumstances  of  infamy 
and  severity,  by  a  decree  of  the  pope  and  of  the 
council  of  Vienne  in  Dauphiny,  as  we  shall  see  in 
the  history  of  the  fourteenth  century 


The  Teuto-  XV.  The  third  order  resembled  the  first  in  this 
me  order,  respect,  that,  though  it  was  a  military  institu- 
tion, the  care  of  the  poor,  and  the  relief  of  the 
sick  were  not  excluded  from  the  services  it  pre- 
scribed. Its  members  were  distinguished  by  the 
title  of  Teutonic  knights  of  St.  Mary  of  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  as  to  its  first  rise,  we  cannot,  with  any 
degree  of  certainty,  trace  it  farther  back  than  the 
year  1  1  90,  during  the  siege  of  Acca,  or  Ptolemais, 
though  there  are  historians  adventurous  enough 
to  seek  its  origin  (which  they  place  at  Jerusalem) 
in  a  more  remote  period.  During  the  long  and 
tedious  siege  of  Acca,  several  pious  and  charitable 


(a)  See  Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  159. 

(£)  See  Matthew  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  56.  for  an  ac- 
count of  the  commencement  of  this  order.  See  also  Putean, 
Histoire  de  1'  Ordre  Militaire  des  Templiers,  which  was  re- 
published,  with  considerable  additions,  at  Brussels,  in  4to.  in 
the  year  1751.  Nic.  Gurtleri  Historia  Templariorum  Mili- 
tum,  Amstelodam.  1691.  in  8vo. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  21 

merchants  of  Bremen  and  Lubec,  touched  with    CENT 

"VTT 

compassion  at  the  sight  of  the  miseries  that  the  p^RT' 
besiegers  suffered  in  the  midst  of  their  success, 
devoted  themselves  entirely  to  the  service  of  the 
sick  and  wounded  soldiers,  and  erected  a  kind  of 
hospital  or  tent,  where  they  gave  constant  attend- 
ance to  all  such  unhappy  objects  as  had  recourse 
to  their  charity.  This  pious  undertaking  was  so 
agreeable  to  the  German  princes,  who  were  pre- 
sent at  this  terrible  siege,  that  they  thought 
proper  to  form  a  fraternity  of  German  knights  to 
bring  it  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection.  Their 
resolution  was  highly  approved  of  by  the  Roman 
pontiff  Celestine  III.  who  confirmed  the  new 
order  by  a  bull  issued  out  the  twenty-third  of 
February,  A.  D.  1192.  This  order  was  entirely 
appropriated  to  the  Germans,  and  even  of  them 
none  were  admitted  as  members  of  it,  but  such 
as  were  of  an  illustrious  birth.  The  support  of 
Christianity,  the  defence  of  the  Holy  Land,  and 
the  relief  of  the  poor  and  needy,  were  the  impor- 
tant duties  and  service  to  which  the  Teutonic 
knights  devoted  themselves  by  a  solemn  vow. 
Austerity  and  frugality  were  the  first  characteristics 
of  this  rising  order,  and  the  equestrian  garment  (c), 
with  bread  and  water,  were  the  only  rewards 
which  the  knights  derived  from  their  generous 
labours.  But  as,  according  to  the  fate  of  human 
things,  prosperity  engenders  corruption,  so  it  hap- 
pened that  this  austerity  was  of  a  short  duration, 
and  diminished  in  proportion  as  the  revenues  and 
possessions  of  the  order  augmented.  The  Teu- 
tonic knights,  after  their  retreat  from  Palestine, 
made  themselves  masters  of  Prussia,  Livonia,  Cour- 
land,  and  Semigallen ;  but,  in  process  of  time, 
their  victorious  arms  received  several  checks,  and 
when  the  light  of  the  reformation  arose  upon  Ger- 

(c)  This  garment  was  a  white  mantle  with  a  black  cross. 


The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    many,  they  were  deprived  of  the  richest  provinces 
PART  i.  wnich  they  possessed   in  that  country  ;    though 


they  still  retain  there  a  certain  portion  of  their 
ancient  territories  (W). 


CHAPTER   II. 

Concerning  the  Calamitous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

The  state  of  I.  THE  progress  of  Christianity  in  the  west 
iVthew'est-  nad  disarmed  its  most  inveterate  enemies,  and 
deprived  them  of  the  power  of  doing  much  mis- 
chief,  though  they  still  entertained  the  same  aver- 
sion to  the  disciples  of  Jesus.  The  Jews  and 
pagans  were  no  longer  able  to  oppose  the  pro- 
pagation of  the  gospel,  or  to  oppress  its  ministers. 
Their  malignity  remained,  but  their  credit  and 
authority  were  gone.  The  Jews  were  accused  by 
the  Christians  of  various  crimes,  whether  real  or 
fictitious  we  shall  not  determine ;  but,  instead  of 
attacking  their  accusers,  they  were  satisfied  to 
defend  their  own  lives,  and  to  secure  their  persons, 
without  daring  to  give  vent  to  their  resentment. 

The  state  of  things  was  somewhat  different  in 
the  northern  provinces.  The  pagans  were  yet 
numerous  there  in  several  districts,  and  wherever 
they  were  the  majority,  they  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tians with  the  utmost  barbarity,  the  most  unre- 


(d)  See  Raymundi  Duellii  Histor.  Ord.  Teutonic!,  pub- 
lished in  folio  at  Vienna,  in  1727- — Petri  Dusburg,  Chroni- 
con  Prussise,  published  in  4to.  at  Jena,  in  the  year  1679.  by 
Christoph.  Hartknochius. — Helyot,  Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  iii. 
p.  140. — Chronicon  Ordinis  Teutonic!  in  Anton.  Matthaei 
Analectis  veteris  aevi,  torn.  v.  p.  621. 658.  ed.  nov. — Privilegia 
Ordinis  Teutonic!  in  Petr.  aLudewig  Reliquiis  Manuscriptor. 
torn.  vi.  p.  43. 


CHAP.  ii.  Calamitous  Events. 

lenting  and  merciless  fury  (e).      It  is  true,  the    CENT. 
Christian   kings   and   princes,   who   lived  in  the 

"  •  •  11*  If  A  1C*     *  • 

neighbourhood   of  these  persecuting   barbarians, 

checked  by  degrees  their  impetuous  rage,  and 
never  ceased  to  harass  and  weaken  them  by  per- 
petual wars  and  incursions,  until,  at  length,  they 
subdued  them  entirely,  and  deprived  them,  by 
force,  both  of  their  independency  and  their  super- 
stitions. 

II.  The  writers  of  this  century  complain  griev-  its  suffer- 
ously  of  the  inhuman  rage  with  which  the  Sara-  l^mm 
cens  persecuted  the  Christians  in  the  east,  nor 
can  we  question  the  truth  of  what  they  relate  con- 
cerning this  terrible  persecution.  But  they  pass 
over  in  silence  the  principal  reasons  that  inflamed 
the  resentment  of  this  fierce  people,  and  volun- 
tarily forget  that  the  Christians  were  the  first  ag- 
gressors in  this  dreadful  war.  If  we  consider  the 
matter  with  impartiality  and  candour,  the  con- 
duct of  the  Saracens,  however  barbarous  it  may 
have  been,  will  not  appear  so  surprising,  parti- 
cularly when  we  reflect  on  the  provocations  they 
received.  In  the  first  place,  they  had  a  right,  by 
the  laws  of  war,  to  repel,  by  force,  the  violent 
invasion  of  their  country,  and  the  Christians 
could  not  expect,  without  being  chargeable  with 
the  most  frontless  impudence,  that  a  people  whom 
they  attacked  with  a  formidable  army,  and  whom, 
in  the  fury  of  their  misguided  zeal,  they  mas- 
sacred without  mercy,  should  receive  their  in- 
sults with  a  tame  submission,  and  give  up  their 
lives  and  possessions  without  resistance.  It  must 
also  be  confessed,  though  with  sorrow,  that  the 
Christians  did  not  content  themselves  with  mak- 


(e)  Helmold,  Chronic.  Sclavor,  lib.  i.  cap.  xxxiv.  p.  88. 
cap.  xxxv.  p.  89.  cap.  xl.  p.  99. — Lindenbrogii  Scriptor. 
Septentrional,  p.  195,  196.  201. — Petri  Lambecii  Res  Ham- 
burg, lib.  i,  p.  23. 


24  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    ing  war  upon  the  Mahometans  in  order  to  de- 
PAR1-!'  i    ^ver  Jerusalem  and  the  holy  sepulchre  out  of  their 

„  hands,  but  carried  their  brutal  fury  to  the  greatest 

length,  disgraced  their  cause  by  the  most  de- 
testable crimes,  filled  the  eastern  provinces, 
through  which  they  passed,  with  scenes  of  horror, 
and  made  the  Saracens  feel  the  terrible  effects  of 
their  violence  and  barbarity  wherever  their  arms 
were  successful.  Is  it  then  so  surprising  to  see 
the  infidel  Saracens  committing,  by  way  of  re- 
prisal, the  same  barbarities  that  the  holy  warriors 
had  perpetrated  without  the  least  provocation? 
Is  there  any  thing  so  new  and  so  extraordinary  in 
this,  that  a  people  naturally  fierce,  and  exaspe- 
rated, moreover,  by  the  calamities  of  a  religious 
war,  carried  on  against  them  in  contradiction  to 
all  the  dictates  of  justice  and  humanity,  should 
avenge  themselves  upon  the  Christians  who  re- 
sided in  Palestine,  as  professing  the  religion  which 
gave  occasion  to  the  war,  and  attached,  of  con- 
sequence, to  the  cause  of  their  enemies  and  inva- 
(ders? 

Prester  III.  The  rapid  and  amazing  victories  of  the 

John  de-     nrreat  Genghizkan,  emperor  of  the  Tartars,  gave 

parts  tins       &  T  «i  •  /»     -I        ™     •     • 

life.  an  unhappy  turn  to  the  affairs  of  the  Christians 

in  the  northern  parts  of  Asia,  towards  the  con- 
clusion of  this  century.  This  heroic  prince, 
who  was  by  birth  a  Mogul,  and  whose  military 
exploits  raise  him  in  the  list  of  fame  above  almost 
all  the  commanders  either  of  ancient  or  modern 
times,  rendered  his  name  formidable  throughout 
all  Asia,  whose  most  flourishing  dynasties  fell 
successively  before  his  victorious  arms.  David, 
or  Ungchan,  who,  according  to  some,  was  the 
son,  or,  as  others  will  have  it,  the  brother,  but 
who  was  certainly  the  successor,  of  the  famous 
Prester  John,  and  was  himself  so  called  in  com- 
mon discourse,  was  the  first  victim  that  Gen- 
ghizkan  sacrificed  to  his  boundless  ambition. 


CHAP.  ii.  Calamitous  Events.  25 

He  invaded  his  territory,  and  put  to  flight  his  CENT. 
troops  in  a  bloody  battle,  where  David  lost,  at  PART' 
the  same  time,  his  kingdom  and  his  life  (/) 
The  princes  who  governed  the  Turks,  Indians, 
and  the  province  of  Cathay,  fell,  in  their  turn, 
before  the  victorious  Tartar,  and  were  all  either 
put  to  death  or  rendered  tributary ;  nor  did 
Genghizkan  stop  here,  but  proceeding  into  Per- 
sia, India,  and  Arabia,  he  overturned  the  Saracen 
dominion  in  those  regions,  and  substituted  that 
of  the  Tartars  in  its  place  (g*).  From  this  period 
the  Christian  cause  lost  much  of  its  authority 
and  credit  in  the  provinces  that  had  been  ruled 
by  Prester  John  and  his  successor  David,  and 
continued  to  decline  and  lose  ground  from  day 
to  day,  until,  at  length,  it  sunk  entirely  under 
the  weight  of  oppression,  and  was  succeeded  in 
some  places  by  the  errors  of  Mahomet,  and  in 
others  by  the  superstitions  of  paganism.  We  must 


(f)  The  Greek,  Latin,  and  Oriental  writers  are  far  from 
being  agreed  concerning  the  year  in  which  the  emperor  of 
the  Tartars  attacked  and  defeated  Prester  John.    The  most 
of  the  Latin  writers  place  this  event  in  the  year  1202,  and 
consequently  in  the  thirteenth  century.    But  Marcus  Paulus 
Venetus  (in  his  book  De  Regionibus  Oricntalibus,  lib.  i.  cap. 
li,  Hi,  liii.)  and  other  historians  whose  accounts  I  have  fol- 
lowed as  the  most  probable,  place  the  defeat  of  this  second 
Prester  John  in  the  year  1187.     The  learned  and  illustrious 
Demetrius  Cantemir  (in  his  Praef.  ad  Histor.  imperii  Otto- 
manici,  p.  45.  tom.i.  of  the  French  edition)  gives  an  account 
of  this  matter  different  from  the  two  now  mentioned,  and 
affirms,   upon   the   authority  of  the  Arabian  writers,   that 
Genghizkan  did  not  invade  the  territories  of  his  neighbours 
before  the  year  1214. 

(g)  See  Petit  de  la  Croix,  Histoire  de  Genghizkan,  p. 
120,   121.  published  in  12mo  at  Paris  in  the  year  1711.— 
Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Oriental,  at  the  article  Genghizkan,  p. 
378. — Assemanni  Biblioth.  Oriental.  Vatican,  torn.  iii.  part  1. 
p.  101,  and  295. — Jean  du  Plan  Carpin,  Voyage  en  Tar- 
tarie,  ch.  v.  in  the  Recueil  des  Voyages  au  Nord,  torn.  vii. 
p.  350. 


PART   I. 


2G  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  except,  however,  in  this  general  account,  the 
kingdom  of  Tangut,  the  chief  residence  of  Prester 
John,  in  which  his  posterity,  who  persevered  in 
the  profession  of  Christianity,  maintained,  for  a 
long  time,  a  certain  sort  of  tributary  dominion, 
which  exhibited,  indeed,  but  a  faint  shadow  of 
their  former  grandeur 


(h)  AssemanniBiblioth.  Oriental.  Vatican,  tom.iii.  part  IT, 
p.  500. 


PART  II. 

THE  INTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  State  of  Letters  and  Philosophy 
during  this  Century. 

I.  NOTWITHSTANDING  the  decline  of  the  Gre-  CENT. 
cian  empire,  the  calamities  in  which  it  was  fre- 
quently involved,  and  the  perpetual  revolutions  ^^_ 
and  civil  wars  that  consumed  its  strength,  and  The  state 
were  precipitating  its  ruin,  the  arts  and  sciences  amongnti" 
still  flourished  in  Greece,  and  covered  with  glory  Greeks. 
such  as  cultivated  them  with  assiduity  and  success. 
This  was  owing,  not  only  to  the  liberality  of  the 
emperors,  and  to  the  extraordinary  zeal  which 
the  family  of  the  Comneni  discovered  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  learning,  but  also  to  the  provident 
vigilance  of  the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  who 
took  all  possible  measures  to  prevent  the  clergy 
from  falling  into  ignorance  and  sloth,  lest  the 
Greek  church  should  thus  be  deprived  of  able 
champions  to  defend  its  cause  against  the  Latins. 
The  learned  and  ingenious  commentaries  of  Eu- 
stathius,  bishop  of  Thessalonica,  upon  Homer, 
and  Dionysius  the  Geographer,  are  sufficient  to 
show  the  diligence  and  labour  that  were  employed 
by  men  of  the  first  genius  in  the  improvement 
of  classical  erudition,  and  in  the  study  of  anti- 
quity. And  if  we  turn  our  view  towards  the 
various  writers  who  composed  in  this  century  the 
history  of  their  own  times,  such  as  Cinnamus, 
Glycas,  Zonaras,  Nicephorus,  Bryennius,  and 
others,  we  shall  find  in  their  productions  un- 


28  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CKNT.    doubted  marks  of  learning  and  genius,  as  well  as 
XIL      of  a  laudable  .ambition  to  obtain  the  esteem  and 

PART  II.  .  fT*\. 

approbation  of  future  ages. 

The  state  of  H»  Nothing  could  equal  the  zeal  and  enthusiasm 
philosophy.  with  which  Michael  Anchialus,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, encouraged  the  study  of  philosophy 
by  his  munificence,  and  still  more  by  the  extra- 
ordinary influence  of  his  illustrious  example  (a). 
It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  the  Aristotelian 
philosophy  that  was  favoured  in  such  a  distin- 
guished manner  by  this  eminent  prelate ;  and  it 
was  in  the  illustration  and  improvement  of  this 
profound  and  intricate  system  that  such  of  the 
Greeks,  as  had  a  philosophical  turn,  were  prin- 
cipally employed,  as  appears  evident  from  several 
remains  of  ancient  erudition,  and  particularly 
from  the  commentaries  of  Eustratius  upon  the 
ethics  and  other  treatises  of  the  Grecian  sage. 
We  are  not,  however,  to  imagine  that  the  sublime 
wisdom  of  Plato  was  neglected  in  this  century, 
or  that  his  doctrines  were  fallen  into  disrepute. 
It  appears,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  were  adopted 
by  many.  Such,  more  especially,  as  had  imbibed 
the  precepts  and  spirit  of  the  Mystics,  preferred 
them  infinitely  before  the  Peripatetic  philosophy, 
which  they  considered  as  an  endless  source  of 
sophistry  and  presumption,  while  they  looked 
upon  the  Platonic  system  as  the  philosophy  of 
reason  and  piety,  of  candour  and  virtue.  This 
diversity  of  sentiments  produced  the  famous  con- 
troversy, which  was  managed  with  such  vehemence 
and  erudition  among  the  Greeks,  concerning  the 
respective  merit  and  excellence  of  the  Peripatetic 
and  Platonic  doctrines. 

The  state  of      III.  In  the  western  world  the  pursuit  of  know- 
learning      ledge  was  now  carried  on  with  incredible  emu- 

among  the 
Latins. 

(a)  Theodorus  Balsamon,  Praef.  ad  Photii  Nomocanonem 

in  Henr.  Justelli  Bibliotheca  juris  canonici  veteris,  torn.  ii. 

p.  814. 


CHAP.  I.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  29 

lation  and  ardour,  and  all  the  various  branches  CENT. 
of  science  were  studied  with  the  greatest  applica- 
tion  and  industry.  This  literary  enthusiasm  was 
encouraged  and  supported  by  the  influence  and 
liberality  of  certain  of  the  European  monarchs 
and  Roman  pontiffs,  who  perceived  the  happy 
tendency  of  the  sciences  to  soften  the  savage 
manners  of  uncivilized  nations,  and  thereby  to 
administer  an  additional  support  to  civil  govern- 
ment, as  well  as  an  ornament  to  human  society. 
Hence  learned  societies  were  formed,  and  colleges 
established  in  several  places,  in  which  the  liberal 
arts  and  sciences  were  publicly  taught.  The 
prodigious  concourse  of  students,  who  resorted 
thither  for  instruction,  occasioned,  in  process 
of  time,  the  enlargement  of  these  schools,  which 
had  arisen  from  small  beginnings,  and  their  erec- 
tion into  universities,  as  they  were  called,  in  the 
succeeding  age.  The  principal  cities  of  Europe 
were  adorned  with  establishments  of  this  kind ; 
but  Paris  surpassed  them  all  in  the  number  and 
variety  of  its  schools,  the  merit  and  reputation  of 
its  public  teachers,  and  the  immense  multitude  of 
the  studious  youth  that  frequented  their  colleges. 
And  thus  was  exhibited  in  that  famous  city  the 
model  of  our  present  schools  of  learning  ;  a  model 
indeed  defective  in  several  respects,  but  which, 
in  after-times,  was  corrected  and  improved,  and 
brought  gradually  to  higher  degrees  of  perfec- 
tion (Z>).  About  the  same  time  the  famous  school  of 
Angers,  in  which  the  youth  were  instructed  in 
various  sciences,  and  particularly  and  principally 
in  the  civil  law,  was  founded  by  the  zeal  and 
industry  of  Ulgerius,  bishop  of  that  city  (<?),  and 

(£)  De  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  463. — Pas- 
quier,  Recherches  de  la  France,  livr.  iii.  ch.  xxix. — Petri 
Lambecii  Histor.  Biblioth.  Vindobon,  lib.  ii.  cap.  v.  p.  260. — 
Histoire  Litter,  de  la  France,  torn.  ix.  p.  60—80. 

(c)  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  215.    Pasquet  de 


PART 


30  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  the  college  of  Montpelier,  where  law  and  physic 
r'u  were  taught  ^h  great  success,  had  already 
acquired  a  considerable  reputation  (d).  The  same 
literary  spirit  reigned  also  in  Italy.  The  academy 
of  Bolonia,  whose  origin  may  certainly  be  traced 
higher  than  this  century,  was  now  in  the  highest 
renown,  and  was  frequented  by  great  numbers 
of  students,  and  of  such  more  especially  as  were 
desirous  of  being  instructed  in  the  civil  and 
canon  laws.  The  fame  of  this  academy  was,  in 
a  great  measure,  owing  to  the  munificence  of  the 
emperor  Lotharius  II.  who  took  it  under  his 
protection,  and  enriched  it  with  new  privileges 
and  immunities  (e).  In  the  same  province 
flourished  also  the  celebrated  school  of  Salernum, 
where  great  numbers  resorted,  and  which  was 
wholly  set  apart  for  the  study  of  physic.  While 
this  zealous  emulation,  in  advancing  the  cause 
of  learning  and  philosophy,  animated  so  many 


la  Livoniere,  Dissert,  sur  1'Antiquite  de  1'Universite  d' Angers, 
p.  21.  published  in  4to.  at  Angers,  1736. 

(d)  Histoire  Gen.  de  Languedoc,  par  les  Benedictins,  torn, 
ii.  p.  517- 

(e)  The  inhabitants  of  Bolonia  pretend,  that  their  academy 
was  founded  in  the  fifth  century  by  Theodosius  II.  and  they 
show  the  diploma  by  which  that  emperor  enriched  their  city 
with  this  valuable  establishment.     But  the  greatest  part  of 
those  writers,  who  have  studied  with  attention  and  imparti- 
ality the  records  of  ancient  times,  maintain,  that  this  diploma 
is  a  spurious  production,  and  allege  many  weighty  arguments 
to  prove,  that  the  academy  of  Bolonia  is  of  no  older  date 
than  the  eleventh  century,  and  that  in  the  succeeding  age, 
particularly  from  the  time  of  Lotharius  II.  it  received  those 
improvements  that  rendered  it  so  famous  throughout  all  Eu- 
rope.    See  Car.  Sigonii  Historia  Bononiensis,  as  it  is  pub- 
lished, with  learned  observations,  in  the  works  of  that  excel- 
lent author.     Muratori  Antiq.  Italic,  medii  sevi,  torn.  iii.  p. 
23.  884.  898.— Just.  Hen.  Bohmeri  Praefat.  ad  Corpus  juris 
Canon,  p.  9.  as  also  the  elegant  History  of  the  Academy 
of  Bolonia,  written  in  the  German  language  by  the  learned 
Keufelius,  and  published  at  Helmstadt  in  8vo.  in  the  year 
1750. 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  31 

princes  and  prelates,  and  discovered  itself  in  CENT. 
the  erection  of  so  many  academies  and  schools  of 
learning,  the  Roman  pontiff,  Alexander  III.  was 
seized  also  with  noble  enthusiasm.  In  a  council 
held  at  Rome,  A.  D.  1179,  he  caused  a  solemn 
law  to  be  published,  for  the  erecting  new  schools 
in  the  monasteries  and  cathedrals,  and  restoring 
to  their  primitive  lustre  those  which,  through  the 
sloth  and  ignorance  of  the  monks  and  bishops, 
had  fallen  into  ruin  (/).  But  the  effect  which 
this  law  was  intended  to  produce  was  prevented 
by  the  growing  fame  of  the  new  erected  acade- 
mies, to  which  the  youth  resorted  from  all  parts, 
and  left  the  episcopal  and  monastic  schools  entirely 
empty  ;  so  that  they  gradually  declined,  and  sunk, 
at  last,  into  a  total  oblivion. 

IV.  Many  were  the  signal  advantages  that  at-  A  new  di- 
tended  these  literary  establishments  ;  and  what  is  vifionofthe 

,      ,  in  •  sciences. 

particularly  worthy  of  notice,  they  not  only  ren- 
dered knowledge  more  universal  by  facilitating 
the  means  of  instruction,  but  were  also  the  oc- 
casion of  forming  a  new  circle  of  sciences,  better 
digested,  and  much  more  comprehensive  than  that 
which  had  been  hitherto  studied  by  the  greatest 
adepts  in  learning.  The  whole  extent  of  learning 
and  philosophy,  before  this  period,  was  confined 
to  the  seven  liberal  arts,  as  they  were  commonly 
called,  of  which  three  were  known  by  the  name 
of  the  trivium,  which  comprehended  grammar, 
rhetoric,  and  logic ;  and  the  other  four  by  the  title 
of  quadrivium,  which  included  arithmetic,  music, 
geometry,  and  astronomy.  The  greatest  part  of 
the  learned,  as  we  have  formerly  observed,  were 
satisfied  with  their  literary  acquisitions,  when  they 
had  made  themselves  masters  of  the  trivium,  while 
such  as,  with  an  adventurous  flight,  aspired  after 


(f)  See  B.  Bohmeri  Jus.  Eccles.  Protestant,  torn.  iv.  p.  705. 


32  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  quadrivium,  were  considered  as  stars  of  the 

"VTT 

pART'n   first  magnitude,  as  the  great   luminaries   of  the 

1  learned  world.     But  in  this  century  the  aspect  of 

letters  underwent  a  considerable  and  an  advanta- 
geous change.  The  number  of  the  liberal  arts 
and  sciences  was  augmented,  and  new  and  unfre- 
quented paths  of  knowledge  were  opened  to  the 
emulation  of  the  studious  youth.  Theology  was 
placed  in  the  number  of  the  sciences ;  not  that 
ancient  theology  which  had  no  merit  but  its  sim- 
plicity, and  which  was  drawn,  without  the  least 
order  or  connexion,  from  divers  passages  of  the 
holy  scriptures,  and  from  the  opinions  and  inven- 
tions of  the  primitive  doctors,  but  that  philoso- 
phical or  scholastic  theology,  that  with  the  deepest 
abstraction  traced  divine  truth  to  its  first  princi- 
ples, and  followed  it  from  thence  into  its  various 
connexions  and  branches.  Nor  was  theology  alone 
added  to  the  ancient  circle  of  sciences ;  the  study 
of  the  learned  languages,  of  the  civil  and  canon 
law,  and  of  physic  (^),  were  now  brought  into 
high  repute.  Particular  academies  were  conse- 
crated to  the  culture  of  each  of  these  sciences  in 
various  places  ;  and  thus  it  was  natural  to  consider 
them  as  important  branches  of  erudition,  and  an 
acquaintance  with  them  as  a  qualification  necessary 
to  such  as  aimed  at  universal  learning.  All  this 
required  a  considerable  change  in  the  division  of 
the  sciences  hitherto  received;  and  this  change 
was  accordingly  brought  about.  The  seven  libe- 
ral arts  were,  by  degrees,  reduced  to  one  general 
title,  and  were  comprehended  under  the  name  of 
philosophy,  to  which  theology,  jurisprudence,  and 
physic  were  added.  And  hence  the  origin  of  the 


__  (g)  The  wordphysica,  though,  according  to  its  etymo- 
logy, it  denotes  the  study  of  natural  philosophy  in  general, 
was,  in  the  twelfth  century,  applied  particularly  to  medicinal 
studies,  and  it  has  also  preserved  that  limited  sense  in  the 
English  language. 


CHAP,  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy. 

four  classes  of  science,  or,  to  use  the  academical    CF.NT. 

A.  11, 

PART  II. 


phrase,  of  the  four  faculties,  which  took  place  in 


the  universities  in  the  following  century. 

V.  A  happy  and  unexpected  event  restored  in  The  study 
Italy  the  lustre  and  authority  of  the  ancient 
Roman  law,  and,  at  the  same  time,  lessened  the 
credit  of  all  the  other  systems  of  legislation  that 
had  been  received  for  several  ages  past.  This 
event  was  the  discovery  of  the  original  manuscript 
of  the  famous  Pandect  of  Justinian,  which  was 
found  in  the  ruins  of  Amalphi,  or  Melfi,  when 
that  city  was  taken  by  Lotharius  II.  in  the  year 
1137,  and  of  which  that  emperor  made  a  present 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Pisa,  whose  fleet  had  con- 
tributed, in  a  particular  manner,  to  the  success  of 
the  siege.  This  admirable  collection,  which  had 
been  almost  buried  in  oblivion,  was  no  sooner 
recovered,  than  the  Roman  law  became  the  grand 
object  of  the  studies  and  labours  of  the  learned. 
In  the  academy  of  Bolonia,  there  were  particular 
colleges  erected  expressly  for  the  study  of  the 
Roman  jurisprudence  ;  and  these  excellent  insti- 
tutions were  multiplied  in  several  parts  of  Italy, 
in  process  of  time,  and  animated  other  European 
nations  to  imitate  so  wise  an  example.  Hence 
arose  a  great  revolution  in  the  public  tribunals, 
and  an  entire  change  in  their  judicial  proceed- 
ings. Hitherto  different  systems  of  law  were  fol- 
lowed in  different  courts,  and  every  person  of 
distinction,  particularly  araong  the  Franks,  had 
the  liberty  of  choosing  the  body  of  laws  that  was 
to  be  the  rule  of  his  conduct.  But  the  Roman 
law  acquired  such  credit  and  authority,  that  it 
superseded,  by  degrees,  all  other  laws  in  the 
greatest  part  of  Europe,  and  was  substituted  in 
the  place  of  the  Salic,  Lombard,  and  Burgundian 
codes,  which  before  this  period  were  in  the 
highest  reputation.  It  is  an  ancient  opinion,  that 
Lotharius  II.  pursuant  to  the  counsels  and  solici- 

VOL. in.  D 


3k  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CF.NT.    tations  of  Irnerius  (//),  principal  professor  of  the 
XIL      Roman  law  in  the  academy  of  Bolonia,  published 

P  A  R  T  1 1  •  -.  •  •«•  -•  i  *  /*»     1 1      i 

an  edict  enjoining  the  abrogation  of  all  the  statutes 

then  in  force,  and  substituting  in  their  place  the 
Roman  law,  by  which,  for  the  future,  all  without 
exception  were  to  modify  their  contracts,  terminate 
their  differences,  and  to  regulate  their  actions. 
But  this  opinion,  as  many  learned  men  have  abun- 
dantly proved  (z),  is  far  from  being  supported  by 
sufficient  evidence. 

Ecciesiasti-      yj     ^0  sooner  was  the  civil  law  placed  in  the 

cal,  or  canon  .  „     ,  '  * 

law.  number  of  the  sciences,  and  considered  as  an  im- 
portant branch  of  academical  learning,  than  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  and  their  zealous  adherents, 
judged  it,  not  only  expedient,  but  also  highly  ne- 
cessary, that  the  canon  law  should  have  the  same 
privilege.  There  were  not  wanting  before  this 
time  certain  collections  of  the  canons  or  laws  of 
the  church  ;  but  these  collections  were  so  desti- 
tute of  order  and  method,  and  were  so  defective, 
both  in  respect  to  matter  and  form,  that  they 
could  not  be  conveniently  explained  in  the 
schools,  or  be  made  use  of  as  systems  of  eccle- 
siastical polity.  Hence  it  was,  that  Gratian,  a 
Benedictine  monk,  belonging  to  the  convent  of 
St.  Felix  and  Nabor  at  Bolonia,  and  by  birth  a 
Tuscan,  composed  about  the  year  1130,  for  the 
use  of  the  schools,  an  abridgment,  or  epitome  of 

(A)  Otherwise  called  Werner. 

(?)  See  Herrn.  Conringius^  De  Origine  Juris  Germanici,  cap. 
xxii. — Guido  Grandus,  Epist.  de  Pandectis,  p.  21.  69.  pub- 
lished at  Florence,  in  4to.  in  1737. — Henry  Brencmann,  His- 
toria  Pandectar.  p.  41. — Lud.  Ant.  Muratori  Prcef.  ad  Leges 
Langobardicas,  scriptor.  rerum  Italicar.  torn.  i.  part  II.  p.  4. 
et  Antiq.  Ital.  medii  aevi,  torn.  ii.  p.  285.  There  was  a  warm 
controversy  carried  on  concerning  this  matter  between 
George  Callixtus  and  Barthol.  Nihusius,  the  latter  of  whom 
embraced  the  vulgar  opinion  concerning  the  edict  of  Lotha- 
rius,  obtained  by  the  solicitations  of  Irnerius :  of  this  con- 
troversy there  is  a  circumstantial  account  in  the  Cimbria  Li- 
terata  of  Molerus,  torn.  iii.  p.  142. 


CHAP.  i.        'Learning  and  Philosophy. 

canon  law,  drawn  from  the  letters  of  the  pontiffs,    CENT. 
the  decrees  of  councils,  and  the  writings  of  the 

_  *4      .  TV;  "  "•  TTT  1AM1    II. 

ancient   doctors.      Pope    Lugemus   ..11.  was  ex- 

tremely  satisfied  with  this  work,  which  was  also 
received  with  the  highest  applause  by  the  doctors 
and  professors  of  Bolonia,  and  was  unanimously 
adopted,  as  the  text  they  were  to  follow  in  their 
public  lectures.  The  professors  at  Paris  were  the 
first  that  followed  the  example  of  those  of  Bolo- 
nia, which,  in  process  of  time,  was  imitated  by  the 
greatest  part  of  the  European  colleges.  But,  not- 
withstanding the  encomiums  bestowed  upon  this 
performance,  which  was  commonly  called  the  de- 
cretal of  Gratian  (/»?),  and  was  entitled  by  the 
author  himself,  the  re-union,  or  coalition  of  the 
jarring  canons  (/),  several  most  learned  and  emi- 
nent writers  of  the  Romish  communion  acknow- 
ledge, that  it  is  full  of  errors  and  defects  of  various 
kinds  (m).  As,  however,  the  main  design  of  this 
abridgment  of  the  canons  was  to  support  the 
despotism,  and  to  extend  the  authority  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  its  innumerable  defects  were 
overlooked,  its  merits  were  exaggerated ;  and, 
what  is  still  more  surprising,  it  enjoys,  at  this 
day,  in  an  age  of  light  and  liberty,  that  high 
degree  of  veneration  and  authority,  which  was 
inconsiderately,  though  more  excusably,  lavished 
upon  it  in  an  age  of  tyranny,  superstition,  and 
darkness  («). 

(k)  Decretum  Gratiani. 

(/)  Concordia  Discordantium  Canonum. 

(wz)  See,  among  others,  Anton.  Augustinus,  De  Emenda- 
tione  Gratiani,  published  in  8vo.  at  Arnhem,  A.  D.  16?8. 
with  the  learned  observations  of  Steph.  Baluzius  and  Ger.  a 
Mastricht. 

(n)  See  Gerhard,  a  Mastricht,  Historia  juris  Ecclesiastic.!, 
sect.  293.  p.  325. — B.  Just.  Hen.  Bohmeri,  Jus.  Eccles.  Pro- 
testant, torn.  i.  p.  100.  and  more  particularly  the  learned  Pre- 
face, with  which  this  last  mentioned  author  enriched  the 
new  edition  of  the  Canon  Law,  published  at  Hal,  in  4to.  in 
the  year  1747.  See  also  Alex.  Machiavelli  Observationes 

D  2 


36  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        VII.  Such  among  the  Latins  as  were  ambitious 
'      °^  makiRg  a  figure  in  the    republic    of  letters, 
applied  themselves,  with  the  utmost  zeal  and  dili- 


The  state  of  Police,    to    the    Study  of    philosophy.       Philosophy, 
philosophy     Ii  •       •  ,  •  i  • 

among  the  ta^en  m  its  most  extensive  and  general  meaning, 
Latins.  comprehended,  according  to  the  method  which 
was  the  most  universally  received  towards  the 
middle  of  this  century,  four  classes  ;  it  .  was  di- 
vided into  theoretical,  practical,  mechanical,  and 
logical.  The  first  class  comprehended  natural 
theology,  mathematics,  and  natural  philosophy. 
In  the  second  class  were  ranked  ethics,  (economics, 
and  politics.  The  third  contained  the  seven  arts 
that  are  more  immediately  subservient  to  the  pur- 
poses of  life,  such  as  navigation,  agriculture, 
hunting,  &c.  The  fourth  was  divided  into  gram- 
mar and  composition,  the  latter  of  which  was 
farther  subdivided  into  rhetoric,  dialectics,  and 
sophistry  ;  and  under  the  term  dialectic  was  com- 
prehended that  part  of  metaphysic  which  treats  of 
general  notions.  This  division  was  almost  univer- 
sally adopted.  Some,  indeed,  were  for  separating 
grammar  and  mechanics  from  philosophy  ;  a  sepa- 
ration highly  condemned  by  others,  who,  under 
the  general  term  philosophy,  comprehended  the 
whole  circle  of  the  sciences  (o). 

ad  Sigonii  Hist.  Bononiensem,  torn.  iii.  Oper.  Sigonii,  p.  128. 
This  writer  has  drawn  from  the  Kalendarium  Archigymna- 
sii  Bononiensis,  several  particularities  concerning  Gratian  and 
his  work,  which  were  generally  unknown,  but  whose  truth  is 
also  much  disputed.  What  increases  the  suspicion  of  their 
being  fabulous  is,  that  this  famous  Kalendar,  of  which  the 
Bolonians  boast  so  much,  and  which  they  have  so  often  pro- 
mised to  publish  in  order  to  dispel  the  doubts  of  the  learned, 
has  never  as  yet  seen  the  light.  Besides,  in  the  fragments 
that  have  appeared,  there  are  manifest  marks  of  unfair  deal- 
ing. 

(o)  These  literary  anecdotes  I  have  taken  from  several 
writers,  particularly  from  Hugo  a  St.  Victor,  Didascali  Li- 
bro  ii.  cap.  ii.  p.  7.  torn.  i.  opp.  and  from  the  Metalogicum  of 
John  of  Salisbury. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  37 

VIII.  The  learned,  who  treated  these  different    CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II. 


branches  of   science,   were   divided   into  various     XIL 


factions,    which    attacked   each   other   with   the 


utmost  animosity  and  bitterness  (^).  There  were,  ssensions 
at  this  time,  three  methods  of  teaching  philosophy 
that  were  practised  by  different  doctors.  The  first 
was  the  ancient  and  plain  method,  which  confined 
its  researches  to  the  philosophical  notions  of  Por- 
phyry, and  the  dialectic  system,  commonly  attri- 
buted to  St.  Augustine,  and  in  which  was  laid 
down  this  general  rule,  that  philosophical  in- 
quiries were  to  be  limited  to  a  small  number  of 
subjects,  lest,  by  their  becoming  too  extensive, 
religion  might  suffer  by  a  profane  mixture  of 
human  subtil  ty  with  its  divine  wisdom.  The 
second  method  was  called  the  Aristotelian,  be- 
cause it  consisted  in  explications  of  the  works  of 
that  philosopher  ((),  several  of  whose  books,  being 
translated  into  Latin,  were  now  almost  every 
where  in  the  hands  of  the  learned.  These  trans- 
lations were,  indeed,  extremely  obscure  and  in- 
correct, and  led  those  who  made  use  of  them  in 
their  academical  lectures,  into  various  blunders, 

(p)  See  Godof.  de  St.  Victor.  Carmen  de  Sectis  Fhilosoph. 
published  by  Le  Bceuf,  in  his  Diss.  sur  1'Histoire  Ecclesiast. 
et  Civile  de  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  254.  —  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Pa- 
ris. torn.  ii.  p.  562.  —  Ant.  Wood.  Antiq.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i.  p. 
51.  —  Jo.  Sarisburiensis  Metalog.  et  Policrat.  passim. 

(y)  Rob.  de  Monte,  Append,  ad  Sigebertum  Gemblacens. 
published  by  Luc.  Dacherius,  among  the  works  of  Guibert, 
abbot  of  Nogent,  ad  A.  1128.  p.  753.  "  Jacobus  Clericus 
de  Venecia  transtulit  de  Grscco  in  Latinum  quosdam  libros 
Aristotelis  et  commentatus  est,  scilicet  Topica,  Annal. 
priores  et  posteriores  et  elenchos.  Quamvis  antiquior  trans- 
Jatio  super  eosdem;  libros  haberetur."  Thorn.  Becket,  Epis- 
tolar.  lib.  ii.  ep.  xciii.  p.  454.  edit.  Bruxell.  1682.  in  4-to." 
*'  Itero  preces,  quatenus  libros  Aristotelis,  quos  habctis, 
mini  faciatis  exscribi.  .  .  .  Precor  etiam  iterata  supplicatione 
quatenus  in  operibus  Aristotelis,  ubi  difficiliora  fuerint,  no- 
t  ul  as  fasciatis,  eo  quod  interpretem  aliquatenus  suspectum 
liabco,  quia  licet  eloquens  fuerit  alias,  ut  saepe  audivi,  minus 
tamcn  iuit  in  grammatica  institutus." 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  and  often  into  notions,  which  were  not  more 
ii.  bsurd  than  whimsical  and  singular.  The  third 
was  termed  the  free  method,  employed  by  such  as 
were  bold  enough  to  search  after  truth,  in  the 
manner  they  thought  the  most  adapted  to  render 
their  inquiries  successful,  and  who  followed  the 
bent  of  their  own  genius,  without  rejecting,  how- 
ever, the  succours  of  Aristotle  and  Plato.  Laud- 
able as  this  method  was,  it  became  an  abundant 
source  of  sophistry  and  chicane,  by  the  impru- 
dent management  of  those  that  employed  it ;  for 
these  subtle  doctors,  through  a  wanton  indulgence 
of  their  metaphysical  fancies,  did  little  more  than 
puzzle  their  disciples  with  vain  questions,  and 
fatigue  them  with  endless  distinctions  and  divi- 
sions (r).  These  different  systems,  and  vehement 
contests  that  divided  the  philosophers,  gave  many 
persons  a  disgust  against  philosophy  in  general, 
and  made  them  desire,  with  impatience,  its  banish- 
ment from  the  public  schools. 
The  eon-  jx.  Of  all  the  controversies  that  divided  the 

tests  of  the      *  .1  ,  ,  .  , 

Diaiecti-     philosophers   in    this   century,   there  were   none 
dans,  R.,ea"  carried  on  with  greater  animosity,   and   treated 

lists,  and  .  ,  _   *?.  J> 

Nominalists  with  greater  subtilty  and  refinement,  than  the 
described.  contests  of  the  Dialectics  concerning  universals. 
The  sophistical  doctors  were  wholly  occupied 
about  the  intricate  questions  relating  to  genus  and 
species,  to  the  solution  of  which  they  directed  all 
their  philosophical  efforts,  and  the  whole  course 
of  their  metaphysical  studies  ;  but  not  all  in  the 
same  method,  nor  upon  the  same  principles  (s). 
The  two  leading  sects  into  which  they  had  been 

(r)  See  Jo.  Sarisburiensis  Policrat.  p.  434.  et  Metalog.  p. 
814,  &c. 

(s)  John  of  Salisbury,  a  very  elegant  and  ingenious  writer 
of  this  age,  censures,  with  a  good  deal  of  wit,  the  crude  and 
unintelligible  speculations  of  these  sophists,  in  his  book  in- 
titled,  Policraticon  sen  de  Nugis  Curialium,  lib.  vii.  p.  4.51. 
He  observes,  that  there  had  been  more  time  consumed  in 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  39 

divided  long  before  this  period,  and  which  were  CENT. 
distinguished  by  the  titles  of  Realists  and  Nomi-  p  5 
nalists,  not  only  subsisted  still,  but  were  more-  _ 
over  subdivided,  each  into  smaller  parties  and 
factions,  according  as  the  two  opposite  and  lead- 
ing schemes  were  modified  by  new  fancies  and 
inventions.  The  Nominalists,  though  they  had 
their  followers,  were  nevertheless  much  inferior 
to  the  Realists,  both  with  respect  to  the  number 
of  their  disciples,  and  to  the  credit  and  repu- 
tation of  their  doctrine.  A  third  sect  arose 
under  the  name  of  Formalists,  who  pretended  to 
terminate  the  controversy,  by  steering  a  middle 
course  between  the  two  jarring  systems  now  men- 
tioned ;  but,  as  the  hypothesis  of  these  new  doctors 
was  most  obscure  and  unintelligible,  they  only 
perplexed  matters  more  than  they  had  hitherto 
been,  and  furnished  new  subjects  of  contention 
and  dispute  (£). 

resolving  the  question  relating  to  genus  and  species,  than 
the  Caesars  had  employed  in  making  themselves  masters  of 
the  whole  world  ;  that  the  riches  of  Croesus  were  inferior  to 
the  treasures  that  had  been  exhausted  in  this  controversy  ; 
and  that  the  contending  parties,  after  having  spent  their 
whole  lives  upon  this  single  point,  had  neither  been  so  happy 
as  to  determine  it  to  their  satisfaction,  nor  to  make,  in  the 
labyrinths  of  science  where  they  had  been  groping,  any  dis- 
covery that  was  worth  the  pains  they  had  taken.  His  words 
are :  "  Veterem  paratus  est  solvere  questionem  de  generibus 
et  speciebus  (he  speaks  here  of  a  certain  philosopher)  in  qua 
laborans  niundus  jam  senuit,  in  qua  plus  temporis  consump- 
tum  est,  quam  in  acquirendo  et  regendo  orbis  imperio  con- 
sumpserit  Caesarea  domus:  plus  effusum  pecunise,  quam  in 
omnibus  divitiis  suis  possederit  Crresus.  Hsec  enim  tarn  diu 
multos  tenuit,  ut  cum  hoc  unum  tota  vita  qusererent,  tandem 
nee  istud,  nee  aliud  invenirent." 

(t)  See  the  above-cited  author's  Policrat.  lib.  vii.  p.  451. 
where  he  gives  a  succinct  account  of  the  Formalists,  Realists, 
and  Nominalists  in  the  following  words :  ft  Sunt  qui  more 
mathematicorum  Formas  abstrahunt,  et  ad  illas  quicquid  de 
universalibus  dicitur  referunt."  Such  were  the  Formalists, 
who  applied  the  doctrine  of  universal  ideas  to  what  the  ma- 
thematicians call  abstract  forms.  Alii  discutiunt  intellectus 
et  eos  universalium  nominibus  censeri  confirmant.  Here  we 


40 

CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church* 

Those  among  the  learned,  who  turned  their 
pursuits  to  more  interesting  and  beneficial  branches 
of  science,  than  the  intricate  and  puzzling  doc- 
trine of  universal^,  travelled  into  the  different 
countries,  where  the  kinds  of  knowledge  they 
were  bent  upon  cultivating,  flourished  most.  The 
students  of  physic,  astronomy,  and  mathematics, 
continued  to  frequent  the  schools  of  the  Saracens 
in  Spain.  Many  of  the  learned  productions  of 
the  Arabians  were  also  translated  into  Latin  (u) ; 
for  the  high  esteem  in  which  the  erudition  of 

find  the  Realists  pointed  out,  who,  under  the  name  of  uni- 
versals, comprehended  all  intellectual  powers,  qualities,  and 
ideas.  *'  Fuerunt  et  qui  voces  ipsas  genera  dicerent  et 
species:  sed  eorum  jam  explosa  sententia  est  et  facile  cum 
autore  suo  evanuit.  Sunt  tamen  adhuc,  qui  deprehenduntur 
in  vestigiis  eorum,  licet  erubescant  vel  auctorem  vel  scian- 
tium  profited,  solis  nominibus,  inhaerentes,  quod  rebus  et 
intellectibus  subtrahunt,  sermonibus  ascribunt."  This  was  a 
sect  of  the  Nominalists,  who,  ashamed  (as  this  author  alleges) 
to  profess  the  exploded  doctrine  of  Roscellinus,  which  placed 
genus  and  species  in  the  class  of  mere  words,  or  simple  de- 
nominations, modified  that  system  by  a  slight  change  of  ex- 
pression only,  which  did  not  essentially  distinguish  their 
doctrine  from  that  of  the  ordinary  Nominalists.  It  appears 
from  all  this,  that  the  sect  of  the  Formalists  is  of  more 
ancient  date  than  John  Duns  Scotus,  whom  many  learned  men 
consider  as  its  founder.  See  Jo.  Sarisbur.  Metalogic.  lib.  ii. 
cap.  xvii.  p.  814.  where  that  eminentjauthor  describes  at  large 
the  various  contests  of  these  three  sects,  and  sums  up  their 
differences  in  the  following  words:  "  Alius  consistit  in  voci- 
bus,  licet  haec  opinio  cum  Roscellino  suo  fere  jam  evanuerit : 
alius  sermones  intuetur  :  alius  versatur  in  intellectibus,"  &c. 
(w)  Gerhard  of  Cremona,  who  was  so  famous  among  the 
Italians  for  his  eminent  skill  in  astronomy  and  physic,  under- 
took a  voyage  to  Toledo,  where  he  translated  into  Latin 
several  Arabian  treatises ;  see  Muratori  Antiq.  Ital.  medii 
aevi,  torn.  iii.  p.  936,  937 — Mirmet,  a  French  monk,  travelled 
into  Spain  and  Africa,  to  learn  geography  among  the  Sara- 
cens. See  Luc.  Dacherii  Spicilegium  vel  Scriptor.  torn.  ix. 
p.  44-3.  ed.  Antiq. — Daniel  Morlach,  an  Englishman,  who 
was  extremely  fond  of  mathematical  learning,  went  a  journey 
to  Toledo,  from  whence  he  brought  into  his  own  country  a 
considerable  number  of  Arabian  books ;  Ant.  Wood,  An- 
tiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  55. — Peter,  abbot  of  Clugni,  sur- 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

that  people  was  held,  together  with  a  desire  of    CENT. 
converting  the  Spanish  Saracens  to  Christianity, 

•       1 1  l  1*1  -iFAK.111 

had  excited  many  to  study  their  language,  and 
to  acquire  a  considerable  knowledge  of  their  doc- 
trine. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Doctors  and  Ministers  of  the 
Church,  and  its  Form  of  Government  during 
this  Century. 

I.  WHEREVER  we  turn  our  eyes  among  the  Ti.e  lives 
various  ranks  and  orders  of  the  clergy,  we  per-  J 
ceive  in  this  century  the  most  flagrant  marks  of  clergy, 
licentiousness  and  fraud,  ignorance  and  luxury, 
and  other  vices,  whose  pernicious  effects  were 
deeply  felt  both  in  church  and  state.  If  we 
except  a  very  small  number,  who  retained  a  sense 
of  the  sanctity  of  their  vocations,  and  lamented 
the  corruption  and  degeneracy  of  their  order,  it 
may  be  said,  with  respect  to  the  rest,  that  their 
whole  business  was  to  satisfy  their  lusts,  to  mul- 
tiply their  privileges  by  grasping  perpetually  at 
new  honours  and  distinctions,  to  increase  their 
opulence,  to  diminish  the  authority,  and  to  en- 
croach upon  the  privileges  of  princes  and  magi- 
strates, and,  neglecting  entirely  the  interests  of 
religion  and  the  cure  of  souls,  to  live  in  ease  and 

named  the  Venerable,  after  having  sojourned  for  some  time 
among  the  Spaniards,  in  order  to  make  himself  master  of  the 
Arabian  language,  translated  into  Latin  the  Alcoran  and  the 
Life  of  Mahomet ;  see  Mabillon,  Annal.  Bened.  torn.  vi.  lib. 
Ixxvii.  345.  This  eminent  ecclesiastic,  as  appears  from  the 
Bibliotheca  Cluniacensis,  p.  Il6p.  found  upon  his  arrival  in 
Spain,  persons  of  learning  from  England  and  other  nations, 
who  applied  themselves  with  extraordinary  assiduity  and 
ardour  to  the  study  of  asStrology.  We  might  multiply  the 
examples  of  those  who  travelled  in  quest  of  science  during 
this  century  ;  but  those  now  alleged  are  sufficient  for  our 
purpose. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  pleasure,  and  draw  out  their  days  in  an  unmanly 
an^  luxurious  indolence.  This  appears  manifestly 
from  two  remarkable  treatises  of  St.  Bernard,  in 
one  of  which  he  exposes  the  corruption  of  the 
pontiffs  and  bishops  (w),  while  he  describes  in  the 
other  the  enormous  crimes  of  the  monastic  orders, 
whose  licentiousness  he  chastises  with  a  just  seve- 


The  pontiffs  II.  The  Roman  pontiffs,  who  were  placed  suc- 
^^^cessively  at  the  head  of  the  church,  governed  that 
their  autho-  spiritual  and  mystical  body  by  the  maxims  of 
worldly  ambition,  and  thereby  fomented  the  warm 
contest  that  had  already  arisen  between  the  im- 
perial and  sacerdotal  powers.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  popes  not  only  maintained  the  opulence  and 
authority  they  had  already  acquired,  but  ex- 
tended their  views  farther,  and  laboured  strenu- 
ously to  enlarge  both,  though  they  had  not  all 
equal  success  in  this  ambitious  attempt.  The 
European  emperors  and  princes,  on  the  other 
hand,  alarmed  at  the  strides  which  the  pontiffs 
were  making  to  universal  dominion,  used  their 
utmost  efforts  to  disconcert  their  measures,  and  to 
check  their  growing  opulence  and  power.  These 
violent  dissensions  between  the  empire  and  the 
priesthood,  (for  so  the  contending  parties  were 
styled  in  this  century),  were  most  unhappy  in 
their  effects,  which  were  felt  throughout  all  the 
European  provinces.  Pascal  II.  who  had  been 
raised  to  the  pontificate  about  the  conclusion  of  the 
preceding  age,  seemed  now  to  sit  firm  and  secure 
in  the  apostolic  chair,  without  the  least  apprehen- 
sion from  the  imperial  faction,  whose  affairs  had 

(w)  In  the  work  intitled,  Considerationuro  Libri  v.  ad  Eu- 
genium  Pontificem. 

(x)  See  his  defence  of  the  crusades,  under  the  title  of 
Apologia  ad  Gulielmum  Abbatem  ;  as  also  Gerhohus,  De 
corrupto  Ecclesiae  Statu,  in  Baluzii  Miscell.  torn.  v.  p.  63.  — 
Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  i.  p.  6.  App.  torn.  ii.  p.  26~5.  2/3,  &c. 
Boulay  Histor.  Academ.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p  4  96.  690. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  £c.  43 

taken  an  unfavourable  turn,  and  who  had  not  the    CENT. 
courage  to  elect  a  new  pope  of  their    party   in      xn- 
the   place   of   Guibert,    who   died   in    the    year  p 
1100  (y). 

Pascal,   therefore,    unwilling    to    let   pass   un-  The  dispute 
improved  the  present  success  of  the  papal  faction,  ?oncejnins 

1          •  M  1    1        1  T1  A  TA       In^est'tUreS> 

renewed,  in  a  council  assembled  at  Rome,  A.  D.  is  fomented 
1102,  the  decrees  of  his  predecessors  against  in-  anew* 
vestitures,  and  the  excommunications  they  had 
thundered  out  against  Henry  IV.  and  used  his 
most  vigorous  endeavours  to  raise  up  on  all  sides 
new  enemies  to  that  unfortunate  emperor.  Henry, 
however,  opposed,  with  great  constancy  and  reso- 
lution, the  efforts  of  this  violent  pontiff,  and  eluded, 
with  much  dexterity  and  vigilance,  his  perfidious 
stratagems.  But  his  heart,  wounded  in  the 
tenderest  part,  lost  all  its  firmness  and  courage, 
when,  in  the  year  1106,  an  unnatural  son,  under 
the  impious  pretext  of  religion,  took  up  arms 
against  his  person  and  his  cause.  Henry  V.  so 
was  this  monster  afterwards  named,  seized  his 
father  in  a  most  treacherous  manner,  and  obliged 
him  to  abdicate  the  empire  ;  after  which  the 
unhappy  prince  retired  to  Liege,  where,  deserted 
by  all  his  adherents,  he  departed  this  life,  and  so 
got  rid  of  his  misery,  in  the  year  1106.  It  has 
been  a  matter  of  dispute,  whether  it  was  the  insti- 
gation of  the  pontiff,  or  the  ambitious  and  impatient 
thirst  after  dominion,  that  engaged  Henry  V.  to 
declare  war  against  his  father  ;  nor  is  it,  perhaps, 
easy  to  decide  this  question  with  a  perfect  degree 


(j/)  Dr.  Mosheim's  affirmation  here  must  be  some- 
what modified  in  order  to  be  true  ;  it  is  certain,  that,  after 
the  death  of  Guibert,  the  imperial  party  chose  in  his  place  a 
person  named  Albert,  who,  indeed,  was  seized  the  day  of  his 
election,  and  cast  into  prison.  Theodoric  and  Magnulf 
were  successively  chosen  after  Albert,  but  could  not  support 
for  any  time  their  claim  to  the  pontificate.  See  FJeury, 
Hist.  Eccles.  livr.  Ixv.  vol.  xiv.  p.  10.  Brussels  edition  in  8vo. 


44  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    of  evidence.     One  thing,  however,  is  unquestion- 
PART1*!!    ably  certain,  and  that  is,  that  Pascal  II.  dissolved, 

, L  or   rather   impiously  pretended   to    dissolve,   the 

oath  of  fidelity  and  obedience  that  Henry  had 
taken  to  his  father ;  and  not  only  so,  but  adopted 
the  cause,  and  supported  the  interests  of  this 
unnatural  rebel  with  the  utmost  zeal,  assiduity, 
and  fervour  (2;). 

The  pro-  III.  The  revolution  that  this  odious  rebellion 
caused  in  the  empire  was,  however,  much  less 
favourable  to  the  views  of  Pascal  than  that  lordly 
pontiff  expected.  Henry  V.  could  by  no  means 
be  persuaded  to  renounce  his  right  of  investing 
the  bishops  and  abbots,  though  he  was  willing 
to  grant  the  right  of  election  to  the  canqns  and 
monks,  as  was  usual  before  his  time.  Upon  this 
the  exasperated  pontiff  renewed,  in  the  councils 
of  Guastalla  and  Troyes,  the  decrees  that  had 
so  often  been  issued  out  against  investitures,  and 
the  flame  broke  out  with  new  force.  It  was, 
indeed,  suspended  during  a  few  years,  by  the  wars 
in  which  Henry  V.  was  engaged,  and  which 
prevented  his  bringing  the  matter  to  an  issue. 
But  no  sooner  had  he  made  peace  with  his  enemies, 
and  composed  the  tumults  that  troubled  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  empire,  than  he  set  out  for  Italy 
with  a  formidable  army,  A.  D.  1110,  in  order 
to  put  an  end  to  this  long  and  unhappy  contest. 
He  advanced  towards  Rome  by  slow  marches, 
while  the  trembling  pontiff  seeing  himself  desti- 
tute of  all  succour,  and  reduced  to  the  lowest  and 
most  defenceless  condition,  proposed  to  him  the 
following  conditions  of  peace :  That  he,  on  the 
one  hand,  should  renounce  the  right  of  investing 

(2)  These  accounts  are  drawn  from  the  most  authentic 
sources,  and  also  from  the  eminent  writers,  whose  authority 
I  made  use  of,  and  whose  names  I  mentioned,  in  that  part  of 
the  preceding  century  that  corresponds  with  the  subject 
here  treated. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  45 

with  the  ring  and  crosier;  and  that  the  bishops  CENT. 
and  abbots  should,  on  the  other  hand,  resign  and 
give  over  to  the  emperor  all  the  grants  they  had 
received  from  Charlemagne,  of  those  rights  and 
privileges  that  belong  to  royalty,  such  as  the 
power  of  raising  tribute,  coming  money,  aiul 
possessing  independent  lands  and  territories,  with 
other  immunities  of  a  like  nature.  These  con- 
ditions were  agreeable  to  Henry,  who  accordingly 
gave  a  fonnal  consent  to  them  in  the  year  1111; 
but  they  were  extremely  displeasing  to  the  Italian 
and  German  bishops,  who  expressed  their  dissent 
in  the  strongest  terms.  Hence  a  terrible  tumult 
arose  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  where  the 
contending  parties  were  assembled  with  their 
respective  followers ;  upon  which  Henry  ordered 
the  pope  to  be  seized,  and  to  be  confined  in  the 
castle  of  Viterbo.  After  having  lain  there  for 
some  time,  the  captive  pontiff  was  engaged,  by  the 
unhappy  circumstances  of  his  present  condition, 
to  enter  into  a  new  convention,  by  which  he 
solemnly  receded  from  the  article  of  the  former 
treaty  that  regarded  investitures,  and  confirmed  to 
the  emperor  the  privilege  of  inaugurating  the 
bishops  and  abbots  with  the  ring  and  crosier. 
Thus  was  the  peace  concluded,  in  consequence  of 
which  the  vanquished  pontiff  arrayed  Henry  with 
the  imperial  diadem  (Y/). 

IV.  This  transitory  peace,  which  was  the  fruit  pascai 
of  violence  and  necessity,  was  followed  by  greater  breaks  ^ 

*i .  -i  11/^1  i  -II  convention, 

tumults  and  more   dreadful  wars,   than   had  yet  and  dies. 
afflicted  the  church.     Immediately  after  the  con- 
clusion of  this  treaty,  Rome  was  filled  with  the 
most  vehement  commotions,  and  a  universal  cry 

(«)  Besides  the  writers  already  mentioned,  see  Mabillon, 
Annul.  Benedict,  torn.  v.  p.GSl.  and  torn.  vi.  p.  1.  at  the  par- 
ticular years  to  which  the  events  here  taken  notice  of  belong. 


46  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    was  raised  against  the  pontiff,  who  was  accused 
XIL      of  having  violated,  in  a  scandalous  manner,  the 

1  duties  and  dignity  of  his  station,  and  of  having 

prostituted  the  majesty  of  the  church  by  his 
ignominious  compliance  with  the  demands  of  the 
emperor.  To  appease  these  commotions,  Pascal 
assembled,  in  the  year  1112,  a  council  in  the 
church  of  Lateran,  and  there,  not  only  confessed, 
with  the  deepest  contrition  and  humility,  the  fault 
he  had  committed  in  concluding  such  a  conven- 
tion with  the  emperor,  but  submitted  moreover 
the  decision  of  that  matter  to  the  determination 
of  the  council,  who  accordingly  took  that  treaty 
into  consideration,  and  solemnly  annulled  it  (&). 
This  step  was  followed  by  many  events  that 
gave,  for  a  long  time,  an  unfavourable  turn  to  the 
affairs  of  the  emperor.  He  was  excommunicated 
in  many  synods  and  councils,  both  in  France  and 
Germany ;  nay,  he  was  placed  in  the  black  list 
of  heretics,  a  denomination  which  exposed  him 
to  the  greatest  dangers  in  these  superstitious 
and  barbarous  times  (c)  ;  and  to  complete  his 
anxiety,  he  saw  the  German  princes  revolting 
from  his  authority  in  several  places,  and  taking 
up  arms  in  the  cause  of  the  church.  To  put  an 
end  to  the  calamities  that  thus  afflicted  the  empire 
on  all  sides,  Henry  set  out  a  second  time  for 
Italy,  with  a  numerous  army,  in  the  year  1116, 
and  arrived  the  year  following  at  Rome,  where 
he  assembled  the  consuls,  senators,  and  nobles, 
while  the  fugitive  pontiff  retired  to  Benevento. 

(6)  Pascal,  upon  this  occasion,  as  Gregory  VII.  had  for- 
merly done  in  the  case  of  Berenger,  submitted  his  proceed- 
ings and  his  authority  to  the  judgment  of  a  council,  to  which, 
of  consequence,  he  acknowledged  his  subordination.  Nay, 
still  more,  that  council  condemned  his  measures,  and  de- 
clared them  scandalous. 

(c)  See  Gervaise,  Diss.  sur  1'Heresie  des  Investitures, 
which  is  the  fourth  of  the  Dissertations  which  he  has  pre- 
fixed to  his  History  of  the  Abbot  Suger. 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  47 

Pascal,  however,  during  this  forced  absence,  CENT. 
engaged  the  Normans  to  come  to  his  assistance, 
and,  encouraged  by  the  prospect  of  immediate 
succour,  prepared  every  thing  for  a  vigorous  war 
against  the  emperor,  and  attempted  to  make 
himself  master  of  Rome.  But,  in  the  midst  of 
these  warlike  preparations,  which  drew  the  atten- 
tion of  Europe,  and  portended  great  and  remark- 
able events,  the  military  pontiff  yielded  to  fate,  and 
concluded  his  days,  A.  D.  1118. 

V.  A  few  days  after  the  death  of  Pascal,  John 
of  Gaieta,  a  Benedictine  monk  of  Montcassin, 
and  chancellor  of  the  Roman  church,  was  raised 
to  the  pontificate  under  the  title  of  Gelasius  II. 
In  opposition  to  this  choice,  Henry  elected  to 
the  same  dignity  Maurice  Burdin,  archbishop  of 
Braga  in  Spain  (d),  who  assumed  the  denomination 
of  Gregory  VIII  (e).  Upon  this,  Gelasius,  not 
thinking  himself  safe  at  Rome,  nor  indeed  in 
Italy,  set  out  for  France,  and  in  a  little  time  after 
died  at  Clugni.  The  cardinals,  who  accompanied 
him  in  his  journey,  elected  to  the  papacy,  imme- 
diately after  his  departure,  Guy,  archbishop  of 
Vienne,  count  of  Burgundy,  who  was  nearly 
related  to  the  emperor,  and  is  distinguished  in 
the  lists  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  by  the  name  of 
Callixtus  II.  The  elevation  of  this  eminent 
ecclesiastic  was,  in  the  issue,  extremely  happy 
both  for  church  and  state.  Remarkably  distin- 
guished by  his  illustrious  birth,  and  still  more  by 
his  noble  and  heroic  qualities,  this  magnanimous 
pontiff  continued  to  oppose  the  emperor  with 


(d)  Braga  was  the  metropolis  of  ancient  Galicia,  but 
at  present  is  one  of  the  three  archbishoprics  of  Portugal,  in 
the  province  of  Entre  Duero  e  Migno.  The  archbishop  of 
that  see  claims  the  title  of  primate  of  Spain,  which  is  annexed 
in  Spain  to  the  see  of  Toledo. 

(e)  See  Stephani  Baluzii  Vita  Mauritii  Burdini  Miscella- 
neor.  torn.  iii.  p.  4-71. 


48  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  courage  and  success,  and  to  carry  on  the  war 
1  ii  k°tn  witn  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  and  with  the 
1  arm  of  flesh.  He  made  himself  master  of  Rome, 
threw  into  prison  the  pontiff  that  had  been  chosen 
by  the  emperor,  and  fomented  the  civil  com- 
motions in  Germany.  But  his  fortitude  and 
resolution  were  tempered  with  moderation,  and 
accompanied  with  a  spirit  of  generosity  and  com- 
pliance, which  differed  much  from  the  obstinate 
arrogance  of  his  lordly  predecessors.  Accordingly, 
he  lent  an  ear  to  pacific  counsels,  and  was  willing 
to  relinquish  a  part  of  the  demands  upon  which 
the  former  pontiifs  had  so  vehemently  insisted, 
that  he  might  restore  the  public  tranquillity,  and 
satisfy  the  ardent  desires  of  so  many  nations,  who 
groaned  under  the  dismal  effects  of  these  deplor- 
able divisions  (jf). 

It  will  appear  unquestionably  evident  to  every 
attentive  and  impartial  observer  of  things,  that 
the  illiberal  and  brutish  manners  of  those  who 
ruled  the  church  were  the  only  reason  that  rendered 
the  dispute  concerning  investitures  so  violent  and 
cruel,  so  tedious  in  its  duration,  and  so  unhappy 
in  its  effects.  During  the  space  of  five-and-tifty 
years,  the  church  was  governed  by  monks,  who,  to 
the  obscurity  of  their  birth,  the  asperity  of  their 
natural  temper,  and  the  unbounded  rapacity  of 
their  ambition  and  avarice,  joined  that  inflexible 
obstinacy  which  is  one  of  the  essential  charac- 
teristics of  the  monastic  order.  Hence  those 
bitter  feuds,  those  furious  efforts  of  ambition 
and  vengeance,  that  dishonoured  the  church 
and  afflicted  the  state  during  the  course  of  this 
controversy.  But  as  soon  as  the  papal  chair  was 
filled  by  a  man  of  an  ingenuous  turn,  and  of  a 
liberal  education,  the  face  of  things  changed  en- 

$jg*  (t/)  The  paragraph  following  is  the  note  (/)  of  the 
original  placed  in  the  text. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Governrnent,  &c.  49 

tirely,  and  a  prospect  of  peace  arose  to  the  desires    CENT. 
and  hopes  of  ruined  and  desolate  countries. 

VI.  These  hopes  were  not  disappointed  ;  for, 


PART  II, 


after  much  contestation,   peace  was,   at   length,  Peace  is 
concluded  between  the  emperor   and  the  pope's  Jj^JjJjJ^ 
legates,  at  a  general  diet  held  at  Worms,  A.  D.  pope  and  the 
1 1<22.     The  conditions  were  as  follow :  ^Sr 

"  That  for  the  future  the  bishops  and  abbots  conditions. 
"  shall  be  chosen  by  those  to  whom  the  right  of 
"  election  belongs  (g) ;  but  that  this  election 
"  shall  be  made  in  presence  of  the  emperor,  or 
"  of  an  ambassador  appointed  by  him  for  that 
* '  purpose  (Ji) : 

"  That,  in  case  a  dispute  arise  among  the  elec- 
"  tors,  the  decision  of  it  shall  be  left  to  the 
"  emperor,  who  is  to  consult  with  the  bishops  upon 
"  that  occasion  : 

"  That  the  bishop  or  abbot  elect  shall  take  an 
"  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  emperor,  receive 
"  from  his  hand  the  regalia,  and  do  homage  for 
"  them  : 

"  That  the  emperor  shall  no  more  confer  the 
"  regalia  by  the  ceremony  of  the  ring  and  crosier, 
"  which  are  the  ensigns  of  a  ghostly  dignity,  but 
"  by  that  of  the  sceptre,  which  is  more  proper  to 
"  invest  the  person  elected  in  the  possession  of 
"  rights  and  privileges  merely  temporal  (?)•" 

This  convention  was  solemnly  confirmed  the 
year  following  in  the  general  council  of  Lateran, 
and  remain^  still  in  force  in  our  times  ;  though 

lUI23  (g)  The  expression  is  ambiguous;  but  it  signifies 
that  the  election  of  bishops  and  abbots  was  to  be  made  by 
monks  and  canons  as  in  former  times. 

(/<)  From  this  period  the  people  in  Germany  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  right  of  voting  in  the  election  of  bishops. 
See  Petr.  de  Marca,  De  Concordia  sacerdotii  ct  imperii,  lib. 
vi.  cap.  ii.  sect.  9.  p.  788.  edit.  Bohmeri. 

(I)  See  Muratori,  Antiq.  Hal.  medii  aevi,  torn.  vi.  p.  76. — 
Schilterus,  De  Libertate  Eccl.  Germanicae,  lib.  iv.  cap.  iv.  p, 
545. — Caesar  Rasponus,  De  Basilica  Lateranensi,  lib.  iv. 
p.  295. 

VOL.  III.  E 


same  thne  e 


50  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  the  true  sense  of  some  of  its  articles  has  occasioned 
PARTII.  c^sPutes  between  the  emperors  and  pontiffs  (£). 
_  1  VII.  Callixtus  did  not  long  enjoy  the  fruits 
TWO  popes  of  this  peace,  to  which  he  had  so  much  contri- 
buted  by  his  prudence  and  moderation.  He 
*"  departed  this  life  in  the  year  1124,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Lambert,  bishop  of  Ostia,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  Honorius  II.  and  under 
whose  pontificate  nothing  worthy  of  mention  was 
transacted.  His  death,  which  happened  A.  D. 
1130,  gave  rise  to  a  considerable  schism  in  the 
church  of  Rome,  or  rather  in  the  college  of 
cardinals,  of  whom  one  party  elected  to  the  papal 
chair,  Gregory,  a  cardinal  deacon  of  St.  Angelo, 
who  was  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Innocent  II. 
while  the  other  chose,  for  successor  to  Honorius, 
Peter,  the  son  of  Leo,  a  Roman  prince,  under  the 
title  of  Anacletus  II.  The  party  of  Innocent  was 
far  from  being  numerous  in  Rome,  or  throughout 
Italy  in  general,  for  which  reason  he  judged  it 
expedient  to  retire  into  France,  where  he  had 
many  adherents,  and  where  he  sojourned  during 
the  space  of  two  years.  His  credit  was  very 
great  out  of  Italy  ;  for,  besides  the  emperor 
Lotharius,  the  kings  of  England,  France,  and 
Spain,  with  other  princes,  espoused  warmly  the 
cause  of  Innocent,  and  that  principally  by  the 
influence  of  St.  Bernard,  who  was  his  intimate 
friend,  and  whose  counsels  had  the  force  and 
authority  of  laws  in  almost  all  the  countries  of 
Europe.  The  patrons  of  Anacletus  were  fewer  in 
number,  and  were  confined  to  the  kings  of  Sicily 
and  Scotland  ;  his  death,  however,  which  hap- 
pened A.  D.  1138,  terminated  the  contest,  and  left 
Innocent  in  the  entire  and  undisputed  possession 
of  the  apostolic  chair.  The  surviving  pontiff 

(k]  It  was  disputed  among  other  things,  whether  the  con- 
secration of  the  bishop  elect  was  to  precede  or  follow  the 
collation  of  the  regalia?  See  Jo.  Wilh.  Hoffman,  ad  concor- 
datum  Henrici  V.  et  Callisti  II.  Vitemberg,  1739,  in  4  to. 


FAKT  II. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  51 

presided,  in  the  year  1  139,  at  the  second  council    CENT. 
of  Lateran,  and  about  four  years  after  ended  his 

.  v 

days  in  peace  (/;. 

VIII.  After  the  death  of  Innocent,  the  Roman  Succession 
see  was  filled  by  Guy,  cardinal  of  St.  Mark,  who  tift,fi5m" 
ruled  the  church  about  five  months,   under  the  j£e  deat|'  of 
title  of  Celestine  II.      If  his  reign  was  short,  it  &«  end  of 
was  however  peaceable,  and  not  like  that  of  his  this  century. 
successor  Lucius  II.  whose  pontificate  was   dis- 
turbed by  various  tumults  and  seditions,  and  who, 
about  eleven  months  after  his  elevation  to  the 
papacy,  was  killed  in  a  riot  which  he  was  endea- 
vouring to  suppress  by  his  presence  and  autho- 
rity.    He  was  succeeded  by  Bernard,  a  Cistertian 
monk,    and   an  eminent   disciple  of  the  famous 
St.   Bernard,   abbot   of  Clairval.      This   worthy 
ecclesiastic,  who  is  distinguished  among  the  popes 
by  the  title  of  Eugenius  III.  was  raised  to  that 
high  dignity  in  the  year  1145,  and  during  the 
space  of  nine   years  was   involved    in  the   same 
perils  and  perplexities  that  had  embittered  the 
ghostly  reign  of  his  predecessor.     He  was  often 
obliged    to   leave    Rome,    and    to    save    himself 
by  flight  from  the  fury  of  the  people  (m)  ;   and 
the   same    reason   engaged    him    to    retire    into 
France,  where  he  sojourned   for  a  considerable 
time.     At  length,   exhausted   by  the   opposition 
he  met  with  in  supporting  what  he  looked  upon 

(I)  Besides  the  ordinary  writers  of  the  papal  history,  see 
Jean  de  Lannes,  Histoire  du  Pontifical  du  Pape  Innocent  II. 
Paris.  174-1,  in  8vo. 

Ifg!^  (m)  There  was  a  party  formed  in  Rome  at  this  time, 
whose  design  was  to  restore  the  Roman  senate  to  its  former 
privileges,  and  to  its  ancient  splendor  and  glory  ;  and  for  this 
purpose,  to  reduce  the  papal  revenues  and  prerogatives  to  a 
narrower  compass,  even  to  the  tithes  and  oblations  that  were 
offered  to  the  primitive  bishops,  and  to  the  spiritual  govern- 
ment of  the  church,  attended  with  an  utter  exclusion  from 
all  civil  jurisdiction  over  the  city  of  Rome.  It  was  this 
party  that  produced  the  feuds  and  seditions  to  which  Dr. 
Mosheim  has  an  eye  in  this  eighth  section. 

E  2 


52  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    as  the  prerogatives  of  the  papacy,  he  departed 
PART-1 1 1   ^is  life  in  the  year  1 153.     The  pontificate  of  his 

1  successor  Conrad,   bishop  of  Sabino,  who,   after 

his  elevation  to  the  see  of  Rome,  assumed  the  title 
of  Anastasius  IV.  was  less  disturbed  by  civil  com- 
motions, but  it  was  also  of  a  very  short  duration  ; 
for  Anastasius  died  about  a  year  and  four  months 
after  his  election. 

The  contest      IX.  The  warm  contest  between  the  emperors 
between  the  an(j  faQ  popes,  which  was  considered  as  at  an  end 

emperors  I     £      '   m 

and  popes  is  ever  since  the  time  of  Callixtus  11.  was  unhappily 
derlprederic  renewecl  under  the  pontificate  of  Adrian  IV 
Barbarossa  who  was  a  native  of  England,  and  whose  original 
ami  Adrian  name  was  Nicolas  Brcakspcar.  Frederic  I.  sur- 
named  Barbarossa,  was  no  sooner  seated  on 
the  imperial  throne,  than  he  publicly  declared 
his  resolution  to  maintain  the  dignity  and  privi- 
leges of  the  Roman  empire  in  general,  and  more 
particularly  to  render  it  respectable  in  Italy  ;  nor 
was  he  at  all  studious  to  conceal  the  design  he 
had  formed  of  reducing  the  overgrown  power  and 
opulence  of  the  pontiffs  and  clergy  within  nar- 
rower limits.  Adrian  perceived  the  danger  that 
threatened  the  majesty  of  the  church,  and  the 
authority  of  the  clergy,  and  prepared  himself  for 
defending  both  with  vigour  and  constancy.  The 
first  occasion  of  trying  their  strength  was  offered 
at  the  coronation  of  the  emperor  at  Rome,  in  the 
year  1155,  when  the  pontiff  insisted  upon  Frederic's 
performing  the  office  of  equerry,  and  holding  the 
stirrup  to  his  holiness.  This  humbling  proposal 
was  at  first  rejected  with  disdain  by  the  emperor, 
and  was  followed  by  other  contests  of  a  more 
momentous  nature,  relating  to  the  political  inte- 
rests of  the  empire. 

These  differences  were  no  sooner  reconciled 
than  new  disputes,  equally  important,  arose  in  the 
year  1158,  when  the  emperor,  in  order  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  enormous  opulence  of  the  pontiffs, 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  53 

bishops,  and  monks,  which  increased  from  day  to    CENT. 
day,  enacted  a  law  to  prevent  the  transferring  of  p™' 
fiefs,  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  su-  , 
perior,  or  lord  in  whose  name  they  were  held  («), 
and  turned  the  whole  force  of  his  arms  to  reduce 
the  little  republics  of  Italy  under  his  dominion. 
An  open  rupture  between  the  emperor  and  the 
pontiff  was  expected  as  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  such  vigorous  measures,  when  the  death   of 
Adrian,  which  happened  on  the  first  of  September, 
A.  D.  1159,  suspended  the  storm  (o). 

X.  In  the  election  of  a  new  pontiff,   the  car-  A  dispute 
dinals  were  divided  into  two  factions.     The  most 


numerous  and  powerful  of  the  two  raised  to  the  new  pontiff. 
pontificate  Roland,  bishop  of  Sienna,  who  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Alexander  III.  while  the  op- 
posite party  elected  to  that  high  dignity  Octa- 
vian,  cardinal  of  St.  Cecilia,  known  by  the  title 
of  Victor  IV.  The  latter  was  patronised  by  the 
emperor,  to  whom  Alexander  was  extremely  dis- 
agreeable on  several  accounts.  The  council  of  •" 
Pavia,  which  was  assembled  by  the  emperor  in 
the  year  1160,  adopted  his  sentiments,  and  pro- 
nounced in  favour  of  Victor,  who  became  there- 
by triumphant  in  Germany  and  Italy  ;  so  that 
France  alone  was  left  open  to  Alexander,  who 
accordingly  left  Rome,  and  fled  thither  for  safety 
and  protection.  Amidst  the  tumults  and  commo- 
tions which  this  schism  occasioned,  Victor  died  at 
Lucca,  in  the  year  1164,  but  his  place  was  imme- 

(ri)  This  prohibition  of  transferring  the  possession  of  fiefs., 
from  one  to  another,  without  the  consent  of  the  supreme 
lord,  or  sovereign,  under  whom  they  were  held,  together 
with  other  laws  of  a  like  nature,  was  the  first  effectual  barrier 
that  was  opposed  to  the  enormous  and  growing  opulence  and 
authority  of  the  clergy.  See  Muratori,  Antiq.  Itul.  medii  aevi, 
torn.  vi.  p.  239. 

(o)  See  the  accurate  and  circumstantial  account  of  this 
whole  affair  that  is  given  by  the  illustrious  and  learned  Count 
Bunau,  in  his  History  of  Frederic  1.  wrote  in  German,  p.  4-5. 
19.  73.  99.  105.  cS:c. 


54;  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  diately  filled  by  the  emperor,  at  whose  desire  Guy, 
cardinal  of  St.  Callixtus,  was  elected  pontiff,  under 
1  the  title  of  Pascal  III.  and  acknowledged  in  that 
character  by  the  German  princes  assembled  in  the 
year  1167,  at  the  diet  of  Wurtzbourg.  In  the 
meantime  Alexander  recovered  his  spirits,  and 
returning  into  Italy  maintained  his  cause  with 
uncommon  resolution  and  vigour,  and  not  without 
some  promising  hopes  of  success.  He  held  at 
Rome,  in  the  year  1167,  the  council  of  Lateran, 
in  which  he  solemnly  deposed  the  emperor  (whom 
he  had,  upon  several  occasions  before  this  period, 
loaded  publicly  with  anathemas  and  execrations,) 
dissolved  the  oath  of  allegiance  which  his  subjects 
had  taken  to  him  as  their  lawful  sovereign,  and 
encouraged  and  exhorted  them  to  rebel  against 
his  authority,  and  to  shake  off  his  yoke.  But, 
soon  after  this  audacious  proceeding,  the  emperor 
made  himself  master  of  Rome,  upon  which  the 
insolent  pontiff  fled  to  Benevento,  and  left  the 
apostolic  chair  to  Pascal,  his  competitor. 

XI.  The  affairs  of  Alexander  seemed  to  take 
soon  after  a  more  prosperous  turn,  when  the 
greatest  part  of  the  imperial  army  being  consumed 
by  a  pestilential  disorder,  the  emperor  was  forced 
to  abandon  Italy,  and  when  the  death  of  Pascal, 
which  happened  in  the  year  1 1 68,  delivered  him 
from  such  a  powerful  and  formidable  rival.  But 
this  fair  prospect  soon  vanished.  For  the  im- 
perial faction  elected  to  the  pontificate  John, 
abbot  of  Strum,  under  the  title  of  Callixtus  III. 
whom  Frederic,  notwithstanding  his  absence  in 
Germany,  and  the  various  wars  and  disputes  in 
which  he  was  involved,  supported  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power.  When  peace  was,  in  a  good  mea- 
sure, restored  in  the  empire,  Frederic  marched 
into  Italy,  A.  D.  11 74,  with  a  design  to  chastise 
the  perfidy  of  the  states  and  cities  that  had  re- 
volted during  his  absence,  and  seized  the  first 


' 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  Sec.  55 

favourable  opportunity  of  throwing  off  his  yoke.  CENT. 
Had  this  expedition  been  crowned  with  the  ex- 
pected success,  Alexander  would,  undoubtedly, 
have  been  obliged  to  desist  from  his  pretensions, 
and  to  yield  the  papal  chair  to  Callixtus.  But 
the  event  came  far  short  of  the  hopes  which  this 
grand  expedition  had  excited  ;  and  the  emperor, 
after  having,  during  the  space  of  three  years, 
been  alternately  defeated  and  victorious,  was,  at 
length,  so  fatigued  with  the  hardships  he  had 
suffered,  and  so  dejected  at  a  view  of  the  diffi- 
culties he  had  yet  to  overcome,  that,  in  the  year 
1177,  he  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  at  Venice 
with  Alexander  III.  and  a  truce  with  the  rest  of 
his  enemies  (p*).  Certain  writers  affirm,  that, 
upon  this  occasion,  the  haughty  pontiff  trod  upon 
the  neck  of  the  suppliant  emperor,  while  he  kissed 
his  foot,  repeating  at  the  same  time  those  words 
of  the  royal  Psalmist  :  "  Thou  shalt  tread  upon 
the  lion  and  adder  :  the  young  lion  and  the 
dragon  shalt  thou  trample  under  feet  (</)•"  The 
greatest  part,  however,  of  modern  authors  have 
called  this  event  in  question,  and  consider  it  as 
utterly  destitute  of  authority,  and  unworthy  of 
credit  (/*). 


XII.  Alexander  III.  who  was  rendered  so  A 
famous  by  his  long  and  successful  contest  with  a 
Frederic  I.  was  also  engaged  in  a  warm  dispute  tween  Alex- 


(p)  All  the  circumstances  of  these  conventions  are  accu-  JJ 
rately  related  by  the  above-mentioned  Count  Bunau,  in  his  England. 
History  of  Frederic  I.  p.  115  —  24<2.  —  See  also  Fortunati 
Olmi  Istoria  della  Venuta  £  Venetia  occultamente  nel  A. 
1177.  di  Papa  Alessandro  III.  Venet.  1629.  in  4to.—  Mura- 
tori,  Antiq.  Italicae  medii  aevi,  torn.  iv.  p.  24-9.  —  Origines 
Guelphicae,  torn.  ii.  p.  379.  —  Acta  Sanctorum,  torn.  i.  April,  p. 
4-6.  in  Vita  Hugonis,  Abbatis  Bonaevallis,  et  torn.  ii.  April,  in 
VitaGaldiniMediolanensis,  p.  596.  two  famous  ecclesiastics, 
who  were  employed  as  ambassadors  and  arbiters  in  the  treaty 
of  peace  here  mentioned. 

(9)  Psalm  xci.  13. 

(r)  See  Bunau's  Life  of  Frederic  I.  p.  242.  —  Heumanni 


56  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    with  Henry  II.  king  of  England,  which  was  DC- 
PART 'n.  casi°ned  by  the  arrogance   of  Thomas   Becket, 

archbishop  of   Canterbury.      In   the   council    of 

Clarendon,  which  was  held  in  the  year  1164, 
several  laws  were  enacted,  by  which  the  king's 
power  and  jurisdiction  over  the  clergy  were  accu- 
rately explained,  and  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
the  bishops  and  priests  reduced  within  narrower 
bounds  (s).  Becket  refused  obedience  to  these 

Pseciles,  torn.  iii.  lib.  i.  p.  14-5. — Bibliotheque  Italique,  torn, 
vi.  p.  5.  as  also  the  authors  mentioned  by  Caspar  Sagitarius, 
in  his  Introduc.  in  Histor.  Eccles.  torn.  i.  p.  630.  torn.  ii.  p. 
6QO. 

(s)  See  Matth.  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  82,  83.  101.  114. 
— Dav.  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Britannia?,  torn.  i.  p.  434. 

Ifgp^  Henry  II.  had  formed  the  wise  project  of  bringing 
the  clergy  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  civil  courts,  on 
account  of  the  scandalous  abuse  they  had  made  of  their  im- 
munities, and  the  crimes  which  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals 
let  pass  with  impunity.  The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon, 
which  consisted  of  sixteen  articles,  were  drawn  up  for  this 
purpose :  and  as  they  are  proper  to  give  the  reader  a  just 
idea  of  the  prerogatives  and  privileges  that  were  claimed 
equally  by  the  king  and  the  clergy,  and  that  occasioned  of 
consequence  such  warm  debates  between  state  and  church, 
it  will  not  be  altogether  useless  to  transcribe  them  here  at 
length. 

I.  When  any  difference  relating  to  the  right  of  patronage 
arises  between  the  laity,  or  between  the  clergy  and  laity,  the 
controversy  is  to  be  tried  and  ended  in  the  King's  Court. 

II.  Those  churches,  which  are  fees  of  the  crown,  cannot 
be  granted  away  in  perpetuity  without  the  king's  consent. 

III.  When  the  clergy  are  charged  with  any  misdemeanour, 
and  summoned  by  the  justiciary,  they  shall  be  obliged  to 
make  their  appearance  in  his  court,  and  plead  to  such  parts 
of  the  indictment  as  shall  be  put  to  them ;  and  likewise  to 
answer  such  articles  in  the  ecclesiastical  court  as  they  shall 
be  prosecuted  for  by  that  jurisdiction  :  always  provided,  that 
the  king's  justiciary  shall  send  an  officer  to  inspect  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Court  Christian.     And  in  case  any  clerk  is 
convicted,  or  pleads  guilty,  he  is  to  forfeit  the  privilege  of 
his  character,  and  to  be  protected  by  the  church  no  longer. 

IV.  No  archbishops,  bishops,  or  parsons  are  allowed  to 
depart  the  kingdom,  without  a  licence  from  the  crown  ;  and, 
provided  they  have  leave  to  travel,  they  shall  give  security, 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  57 

laws,  which  he  looked  upon  as  prejudicial  to  the  CENT, 

divine  rights  of  the  church  in  general,  and  to  the  XIL 

&  PART  II, 


not  to  act  or  solicit  any  thing  during  their  passage,  stay,  or 
return,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  king,  or  kingdom. 

V.  When  any  of  the  laity  are  prosecuted  in  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts,  the  charge  ought  to  be  proved  before  the  bishop 
by  legal  and  reputable  witnesses  ;  and  the  course  of  the  pro- 
cess is  to  be  so  managed,  that  the  archdeacon  may  not  lose 
any  part  of  his  right,  or  the  profits  accruing  to  his  office: 
and  if  any  offenders  appear  screened  from  prosecution  upon 
the  score,   either  of  favour  or  quality,  the  sheriff,    at  the 
bishop's  instance,  shall  order  twelve  sufficient  men  of  the 
neighbourhood  to  make  oath  before  the  bishop,  that  they 
will  discover  the  truth  according  to  the  best  of  their  know- 
ledge. 

VI.  Excommunicated  persons   shall   not  be  obliged   to 
make  oath,  or  give  security  to  continue  upon  the  place 
where  they  live :  but  only  to  abide  by  the  judgment  of  the 
church  in  order  to  their  absolution. 

VII.  No  person  that  holds  in  chief  of  the  king,  or  any  of 
his  barons,  shall  be  excommunicated,  or  any  of  their  estates 
put  under  an  interdict,  before  application  made  to  the  king, 
provided  he  is  in  the  kingdom,  and,  in  case  his  highness  be 
out  of  England,  then  the  justiciary  must  be  acquainted  with 
the  dispute  in  order  to  make  satisfaction :  and  thus  what  be- 
longs to  the  cognizance  of  the  king's  court  must  be  tried 
there ;  and  that  which  belongs  to  the  Court  Christian  must 
be  remitted  to  that  jurisdiction. 

VIII.  In  case  of  appeals  in  ecclesiastical  causes,  the  first 
step  is  to  be  made  from  the  archdeacon  to  the  bishop,  and 
from  the  bishop  to  the  archbishop  :  and,  if  the  archbishop 
fails  to  do  justice,  a  farther  recourse  may  be  had  to  the  king, 
by  whose  order  the  controversy  is  to  be  finally  decided  in 
the  archbishop's  court.    Neither  shall  it  be  lawful  for  either 
of  the  parties  to  move  for  any  farther  remedy  without  leave 
from  the  crown. 

IX.  If  a  difference  happens  to  arise  between  any  clergy- 
man and  layman  concerning  any  tenement;    and  that  the 
clerk  pretends  it  held  by  frank  almoine  *,  and  the  layman 
pleads  it  a  lay-fee  j  in  this  case,  the  tenure  shall  be  tried  by 
the  inquiry  and  verdict  of  twelve  sufficient  men  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood, summoned  according  to  the  custom  of  the  realm. 
And,  if  the  tenement  or  thing  in  controversy  shall  be  found 
frank  almoine,  the  dispute  concerning  it  shall  be  tried  in  the 
ecclesiastical  court.     But,  if  it  is  brought  in  a  lay-fee,  the 
suit  shall  be  followed  in  the  king's  courts,  unless  both  the 

*  i.  e.  A  tenure  by  divine  service,  as  Britton  explains  it. 


58  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church 

CENT,    prerogatives  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  in  particular. 

XII.        ~~  ~  * 

PART  II. 


xn*      Upon  this  there  arose  a  violent  debate  between 


plaintiff  and  defendant  hold  the  tenement  in  question  of  the 
same  bishop ;  in  which  case  the  cause  shall  be  tried  in  the 
court  of  such  bishop  or  baron,  with  this  farther  proviso,  that 
he  who  is  seized  of  the  thing  in  controversy,  shall  not  be 
disseized,  hanging  the  suit,  (i.  e.  during  the  suit,  pendente 
lite}  upon  the  score  of  the  verdict  abovementioned. 

X.  He  who  holds  of  the  king  in  any  city,  castle,  or  borough, 
or  resides  upon  any  of  the  demesne  lands  of  the  crown,  in 
case  he  is  cited  by  the  archdeacon  or  bishop  to  answer  any 
misbehaviour  belonging  to  their  cognizance ;  if  he  refuses  to 
obey  their  summons,  and  stand  to  the  sentence  of  the  court, 
it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  ordinary  to  put  him  under  an  inter- 
dict, but  not  to  excommunicate  him,  till  the  king's  principal 
officer  of  the  town  shall  be  pre-acquainted  with  the  case,  in 
order  to  enjoin  him  to  make  satisfaction  to  the  church.    And 
if  such  officer  or  magistrate  shall  fail  in  his  duty,  he  shall 
be  fined  by  the  king's  judges.     And  then  the  bishop  may 
exert  his  discipline  on  the  refractory  person  as  he  thinks  fit. 

XI.  All  archbishops,  bishops,  and  ecclesiastical  persons, 
who  hold  of  the  king  in  chief,  and  the  tenure  of  a  barony, 
are  for  that  reason  obliged  to  appear  before  the  king's  jus- 
tices and  ministers,  to  answer  the  duties  of  their  tenure,  and 
to  observe  all  the  usages  and  customs  of  the  realm  j  and, 
like  other  barons,  are  bound  to  be  present  at  trials  in  the 
king's  court,  till  sentence  is  to  be  pronounced  for  the  losing 
of  life  or  limbs. 

XII.  When  any  archbishopric,  bishopric,  abbey,  or  priory, 
of  royal  foundation,  becomes  vacant,  the  king  is  to  make 
seizure  :  from  which  time  all  the  profits  and  issues  are  to  be 
paid  into  the  Exchequer,  as  if  they  were  the  demesne  lands 
of  the  crown.     And  when  it  is  determined  the  vacancy  shall 
be  filled  up,  the  king  is  to  summon  the  most  considerable 
persons  of  the  chapter  to  court,  and  the  election  is  to  be 
made  in  the  chapel  royal,  with  the  consent  of  our  sovereign 
lord  the  king,  and  by  the  advice  of  such  persons  of  the 
government,  as  his  highness  shall  think  fit  to  make  use  of. 
At  which  time,  the  person  elected,  before  his  consecration, 
shall  be  obliged  to  do  homage  and  fealty  to  the  king,  as  his 
liege  lord;  which  homage  shall  be  performed  in  the  usual 
form,  with  a  clause  for  the  saving  the  privilege  of  his  order. 

XIII.  If  any  of  the  temporal  barons,  or  great  men,  shall 
encroach  upon  the  rights  or  property  of  any  archbishop, 
bishop,  or  archdeacon,  and  refuse  to  make  satisfaction  for 
wrong  done  by  themselves,  or  their  tenants,  the  king  shall 
do  justice  to  the  party  aggrieved.     And  if  any  person  shall 
disseize  the  king  of  any  part  of  his  lands,  or  trespass  upon  his 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

the  resolute  monarch  and  the  rebellious  prelate,  CENT. 
which  obliged  the  latter  to  retire  into  France, 
where  Alexander  III.  was  at  that  time  in  a  kind 
of  exile.  This  pontiff  and  the  king  of  France 
interposed  their  good  offices  in  order  to  compose 
these  differences,  in  which  they  succeeded  so  far, 
after  much  trouble  and  difficulty,  as  to  encourage 
Becket  to  return  into  England,  where  he  was  re- 
instated in  his  forfeited  dignity.  But  the  gene- 
rous and  indulgent  proceedings  of  his  sovereign 
towards  him  wrere  not  sufficient  to  conquer  his 
arrogant  and  rebellious  obstinacy,  in  maintaining, 
what  he  called,  the  privileges  of  the  church,  nor 

prerogative,  the  archbishops,  bishops,  and  archdeacons  shall 
call  him  to  an  account,  and  oblige  him  to  make  the  crown 
restitution;  i.  e.  "They  were  to  excommunicate  such  dis- 
seizers  and  injurious  persons  in  case  they  proved  refractory 
and  incorrigible." 

XIV.  The  goods  and  chattels  of  those  who  lie  under  for- 
feitures of  felony  or  treason  are  not  to  be  detained  in  any 
church  or  churchyard,  to  secure  them  against  seizure  and 
justice;  because  such  goods  are  the  king's  property,  whe- 
ther they  are  lodged  within  the  precincts  of  a  church  or 
without  it. 

XV.  All  actions,  and   pleas  of  debts,  though  never  so 
solemn  in  the  circumstances  of  the  contract,  shall  be  tried  in 
the  king's  courts. 

XVI.  The  sons  of  copyholders    are  not  to  be  ordained 
without  the  consent  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  where  they 
were  born. 

Such  were  the  articles  of  the  Constitutions  of  Claren- 
don, against  the  greatest  part  of  which  the  pope  protested. 
They  were  signed  by  the.  English  clergy  and  also  by  Becket. 
The  latter,  however,  repented  of  what  he  had  done,  and, 
retiring  from  court,  suspended  himself  from  his  office  in  the 
church  for  about  forty  days,  till  he  received  absolution  from 
Alexander  III.  who  was  then  at  Sens.  His  aversion  to  these 
articles  manifested  itself  by  an  open  rebellion  against  his 
sovereign,  in  which  he  discovered  his  true  character,  as  a 
most  daring,  turbulent,  vindictive,  and  arrogant  priest, 
whose  ministry  was  solely  employed  in  extending  the  de- 
spotic dominion  of  Rome,  and  whose  fixed  purpose  was  to 
aggrandize  the  church  upon  the  ruins  of  the  state.  See 
Collier's  Ecclesiastical  History,  vol.  i.  xiith  century,  llapin 
Thoyras,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II. 


60  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

ENT.    could  he  be  induced   by  any  means  to  comply 


• 


PART  ii.  w^tn  tne  v^ws  and  measures  of  Henry.  The 
-  consequences  of  this  inflexible  resistance  were 
fatal  to  the  haughty  prelate,  for  he  was,  soon 
after  his  return  into  England,  assassinated  before 
the  altar,  while  he  was  at  vespers  in  his  cathe- 
dral, by  four  persons,  who  certainly  did  not 
commit  this  act  of  violence  without  the  king's 
knowledge  and  connivance  (/).  This  event  pro- 

!f§|r>  (t)  This  assertion  is,  in  our  opinion,  by  much  too 
strong.  It  can  only  be  founded  upon  certain  indiscreet  and 
passionate  expressions,  which  the  intolerable  insolence  and 
frenetic  obstinacy  of  Becket  drew  from  Henry  in  an  un- 
guarded moment,  when,  after  having  received  new  affronts, 
notwithstanding  the  reconciliation  he  had  effected  with  so 
much  trouble  and  condescension,  he  expressed  himself  to 
this  purpose  :  "  Am  I  not  unhappy,  that,  among  the  num- 
"  bers,  who  are  attached  to  my  interests,  and  employed  in 
"  my  service,  there  is  none  possessed  of  spirit  enough  to 
"  resent  the  affronts  which  I  am  constantly  receiving  from  a 
"  miserable  priest  ?"  These  words,  indeed,  were  not  pro- 
nounced in  vain.  Four  gentlemen  of  the  court,  whose 
names  were  Fitz-Urse,  Tracy,  Britton,  and  Morville,  mur- 
dered Becket  in  his  chapel,  and  thus  performed,  in  a  licen- 
tious and  criminal  manner,  an  action  which  the  laws  might 
have  commanded  with  justice.  But  it  is  extremely  remark- 
able, that,  after  the  murder,  the  assassins  were  afraid  they 
had  gone  too  far,  and  durst  not  return  to  the  king's  court, 
which  was  then  in  Normandy;  but  retired,  at  first,  to 
Knaresborough  in  Yorkshire,  which  belonged  to  Morville, 
from  whence  they  repaired  to  Rome  for  absolution,  and 
being  admitted  to  penance  by  Alexander  III.  were  sent,  by 
the  orders  of  that  pontiff,  to  Jerusalem,  and  passed  the 
remainder  of  their  lives  upon  the  Black  Mountain  in  the 
severest  acts  of  austerity  and  mortification.  All  this  does 
not  look  as  if  the  king  had  been  deliberately  concerned  in 
this  murder,  or  had  expressly  consented  to  it.  On  the  con- 
trary, various  circumstances  concur  to  prove  that  Henry 
was  entirely  innocent  of  this  murder.  Mr.  Hume  mentions 
particularly  one,  which  is  worthy  of  notice.  The  king, 
suspecting  the  design  of  the  four  gentlemen  above-men- 
tioned, by  some  menacing  expressions  they  had  dropt, 
"  despatched  (says  Mr.  Hume)  a  messenger  after  them, 
"  charging  them  to  attempt  nothing  against  the  person  of 
"  the  primate.  But  these  orders  came  too  late."  See  his 
History  of  England,  vol.  i,  p.  294.  Ilapin  Thoyras,  History 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  61 

duced  warm  debates  between  the  king  of  England  CENT. 
and  the  Roman  pontiff,  who  gained  his  point  so 
far  as  to  make  the  suppliant  monarch  undergo  a 
severe  course  of  penance,  in  order  to  expiate  a 
crime  of  which  he  was  considered  as  the  principal 
promoter,  while  the  murdered  prelate  was  solemnly 
enrolled  in  the  highest  rank  of  saints  and  martyrs 
in  the  year  H73(u). 

XIII.    It  was  not  only  by  force  of  arms,  but  Alexander 
also   by   uninterrupted   efforts  of  dexterity   and  JJ^by4"" 
artifice,  by  wise  councils  and  prudent  laws,  that  prudent 
Alexander  III.  maintained  the  pretended  rights  confirm  th°e 
of  the  church,  and  extended  the  authority  of  the  privileges  of 
Roman  pontiffs.     For,  in  the  third  council  of  the  anVto"^-' 
Lateran,  held  at  Rome,  A.  D.  1179,  the  follow-       the 
ing  decrees,  among  many  others  upon  different 
subjects,  were  passed  by  his  advice  and  authority : 
1  st,  That  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  the  confusion 
and  dissensions  which  so  often  accompanied  the 
election   of   the   Roman    pontiffs,    the   right   of 
election  should  not  only  be  vested  in  the  cardinals 
alone,  but  also  that  the  person,  in  whose  favour 
two-thirds  of  the  college  of  cardinals  voted,  should 
be   considered   as   the   lawful   and   duly  elected 
pontiff.     This  law  is  still  in  force ;  it  was  there- 
fore from  the  time  of  Alexander  that  the  election 
of  the  pope   acquired   that   form   which  it  still 

of  England ;  Collier's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  England,  vol. 
i.  p.  370.  The  authors  which  Dr.  Mosheim  refers  to  for  an 
account  of  this  matter  are  as  follow:  Guiliel.  Stephanidae, 
Historia  Thomse  Cantuariensis  in  Spark's  Scriptores  rerum 
Anglicarum,  published  in  folio  at  London  in  the  year  1723. — 
Chrisp.  Lupi  Epistola  et  Vita  Thomae  Cantuar. — Epistolac 
Alexandri  III.  Ludovici  VII.  Henrici  II.  in  hac  causa  ex 
MSS.  Vaticano,  Bruxelles  1682,  2  vol.  4-to. — Natalis  Alex- 
ander, Select.  Histor.  Eccles.  Capitib.  Saec.  xii.  Diss.  x.  p. 
833. — Thomae  Stapletoni  Tres  Thomae,  sue  res  gestae  Thomae 
Apostoli,  S.  Thomae  Cantuariensis,  et  Thomae  Mori.  Colon. 
1612.  in  8vo. 

(?/)  Boulay,  Histor.  Academ.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  328.  et  De 
Die  festo  ejus,  p.  397.  Dom.  Colonia,  Histoire  Litteraire  de 
la  Ville  dc  Lyon,  torn.  ii.  p.  <Z19. 


PART*!! 


62  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    retains,  and  by  which,  not  only  the  people,  but 
a^so   tne    R°man   clergy>   are   excluded   entirely 
from  all  share  in  the  honour  of  conferring  that 
important   dignity.      2dly,   A  spiritual  war  was 
declared  against  heretics,  whose  numbers  increas- 
ing considerably  about  this  time,  created  much 
disturbance  in  the  church  in  general,  and  infested, 
in  a  more  particular  manner,  several  provinces  in 
France,  which  groaned  under  the  fatal   dissen- 
sions that  accompanied  the  propagation  of  their 
errors  (w).     3dly,   The  right  of  recommending 
and  nominating  to  the  saintly  order  was  also  taken 
away  from  councils  and  bishops,  and  canonization 
was  ranked  among  the  greater  and  more  impor- 
tant causes,  the  cognizance  of  which  belonged  to 
the  pontiff  alone  («r).     To  all  this  we  must  not 
forget  to  add,   that  the  power  of  erecting  new 
kingdoms,  which  had  been  claimed  by  the  pontiffs 
from   the   time  of  Gregory  VII.  was  not  only 
assumed,  but  also  exercised  by  Alexander  in  a  re- 
markable instance  ;  for,  in  the  year  1  1  79?  he  con- 
ferred the  title  of  king,  with  the  ensigns  of  royalty, 
upon  Alphonso  I.  duke  of  Portugal,  who,  under 
the  pontificate  of  Lucius  II.  had  rendered  his  pro- 
vince tributary  to  the  Roman  see 


(w)  See  Natalis  Alexander,  Select.  Histor.  Eccles.  Capit. 
Saec.  xii.  Diss.  ix.  p.  819.  where  he  treats  particularly  con- 
cerning this  council.  —  See  also  torn.  vi.  part  II.  Conciliorum 
Harduini,  p.  1671. 

Ijgg0  Dr.  Mosheim,  as  also  Spanheim  and  Fleury,  call  this 
the  3d  council  of  Lateran,  whereas  other  historians  mention 
eight  preceding  councils  held  in  the  Lateran,  viz.  Those  of 
the  years  649.  864-.  1105.  1112.  1116.  1123.  1139.  1167. 
Our  author  has  also  attributed  to  this  council  of  1179  de- 
crees that  probably  belong  to  a  later  period. 

(x)  See  what  has  been  observed  already,  under  the  xth 
century,  concerning  the  election  of  the  popes,  and  the 
canonization  of  saints. 

(y)  Baronius,  Annal.  ad  A.  1179.  —  Innocentii  III.  Epi- 
stolae  Lib.  ep.  xlix.  p.  54.  torn.  i.  ed.  Baluzian. 

Hjt^j*  Alphonso  had  been  declared,  by  his  victorious  army, 
king  of  Portugal,  in  the  year  1  136,  in  the  midst  of  the  glori- 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  63 

XIV.  Upon  the  death  of  Alexander,  Ubald,  CENT. 
bishop  of  Ostia,  otherwise  known  by  the  name  of 
Lucius  III.  was  raised  to  the  pontificate,  A.  D. 
1181,  by  the  suffrages  of  the  cardinals  alone,  in  His 
consequence  of  the  law  mentioned  in  the  preced- sors 
ing  section.  The  administration  of  this  new  pon- 
tiff was  embittered  by  violent  tumults  and  sedi- 
tions ;  for  he  was  twice  driven  out  of  the  city  by 
the  Romans,  who  could  not  bear  a  pope  that  was 
elected  in  opposition  to  the  ancient  custom,  with- 
out the  knowledge  and  consent  of  the  clergy  and 
the  people.  In  the  midst  of  these  troubles  he 
died  at  Verona  in  the  year  1 1 85,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Hubert  Crivelli,  bishop  of  Milan, 
who  assumed  the  title  of  Urban  III.  and  with- 
out having  transacted  any  thing  worthy  of  men- 
tion during  his  short  pontificate,  died  of  grief  in 
the  year  1187,  upon  hearing  that  Saladin  had 
made  himself  master  of  Jerusalem.  The  pontifi- 
cate of  his  successor  Albert  (%),  whose  papal 
denomination  was  Gregory  VIII.  exhibited  still 
a  more  striking  instance  of  the  fragility  of  human 
grandeur ;  for  this  pontiff  yielded  to  fate  about 
two  months  after  his  elevation.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Paul,  bishop  of  Preneste,  who  filled  the 
papal  chair  above  three  years  under  the  title  of 
Clement  III.  and  departed  this  life,  A.D.  1191, 
without  having  distinguished  his  ghostly  reign  by 
any  memorable  achievement,  if  we  except  his  zeal 
for  draining  Europe  of  its  treasures  and  inhabi- 
tants by  the  publication  of  new  crusades.  Celes- 
tine  III.  (a)  makes  a  more  shining  figure  in 
history  than  the  pontiffs  we  have  been  now  men- 

ous  exploits  he  had  performed  in  the  war  against  the  Moors ; 
so  that  Alexander  III.  did  no  more  than  confirm  this  title  by 
an  arrogant  bull,  in  which  he  treats  that  excellent  prince  as 
his  vassal. 

(z)  This  prelate,  before  his  elevation  to  the  papacy,  was 
bishop  of  Benevento,  and  chancellor  of  the  Roman  church. 

(a)  Whose  name  was  Hyacinth,  a  native  of  Rome,  and  a 
cardinal  deacon. 


64  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  tioning  ;  for  he  thundered  his  excommunications 
PART  ii.  agamst  tne  emperor  Henry  VI.  and  Leopold, 
-  duke  of  Austria,  on  account  of  their  having  seized 
and  imprisoned  Richard  I.  king  of  England,  as 
he  was  returning  from  the  Holy  Land  ;  he  also 
subjected  to  the  same  malediction  Alphonso  X. 
king  of  Gallicia  and  Leon,  on  account  of  an  in- 
cestuous marriage  into  which  that  prince  had 
entered,  and  commanded  Philip  Augustus,  king 
of  France,  to  re-admit  to  the  conjugal  state  and 
honours,  Ingelburg  his  queen,  whom  he  had 
divorced  for  reasons  unknown  ;  though  this  order, 
indeed,  produced  but  little  effect  (&).  But  the 
most  illustrious  and  resolute  pontiff  that  filled 
the  papal  chair  during  this  century,  and  whose 
exploits  made  the  greatest  noise  in  Europe,  was 
Lotharius,  count  of  Segni,  cardinal  deacon,  other- 
wise known  by  the  name  of  Innocent  III.  The 
arduous  undertakings  and  bold  achievements  of 
this  eminent  pontiff,  who  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  the  church  in  the  year  1  1  98,  belong  to  the 
history  of  the  following  century. 

A  view  of        XV.  If,  from  the  series  of  pontiffs  that  ruled 

ecciesiTsti-  the  church  in  this  century,  we  descend  to  the 

cai  orders,    other   ecclesiastical   orders,  such  as  the  bishops, 

vicestheir     priests,  and  deacons,  the  most  disagreeable  objects 

will  be  exhibited  to  our  view.     The  unanimous 

voice  of  the  historians  of  this  age,  as  well  as  the 

laws  and  decrees  of  synods  and  councils,  declare 

loudly  the  gross  ignorance,  the  odious  frauds,  and 

the  flagitious  crimes,  that  reigned  among  the  dif- 

ferent ranks  and  orders  of  the  clergy  now  men- 

tioned.     It  is  not  therefore  at  all  surprising,  that 

the  monks,  whose  rules  of  discipline  obliged  them 

to  a  regular  method  of  living,  and  placed  them 

out  of  the  way  of  many  temptations  to  licentious- 

ness, and  occasions  of  sinning,  to  which  the  episcopal 


ggp°  (b)  It  was  in  consequence  of  the  vigorous  and  terrible 
proceedings  of  Innocent  III.  that  the  re-union  between  Philip 
and  Ingelburg  was  accomplished.  See  L'Histoire  de  France, 
par  1'Abbe  Velly,  torn.  iii.  p.  367,  368,  369. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  C5 

and  sacerdotal  orders  were  exposed,  were  held  in  CENT. 
higher  esteem  than  they  were.  The  reign  of 
corruption  became,  however,  so  general,  that  it 
reached  at  last  even  the  convents ;  and  the  monks, 
who  were  gaining  with  the  most  ardent  efforts 
the  summit  of  ecclesiastical  power  and  authority, 
and  who  beheld  both  the  secular  clerks  and  the 
regular  canons  with  aversion  and  contempt  (c), 
began,  in  many  places,  to  degenerate  from  that 
sanctity  of  manners,  and  that  exact  obedience  to 
their  rules  of  discipline,  by  which  they  had  been 
formerly  distinguished,  and  to  exhibit  to  the 
people  scandalous  examples  of  immorality  and 
vice  (cT).  The  Benedictines  of  Clugni,  who  un- 
doubtedly surpassed,  in  regularity  of  conduct  and 
purity  of  manners,  all  the  monastic  orders  who 
lived  under  their  rule,  maintained  their  integrity 
for  a  long  time,  amidst  the  general  decay  of  piety 
and  virtue.  They  were,  however,  at  length  carried 
away  with  the  torrent ;  seduced  by  the  example 
of  their  abbot  Pontius,  and  corrupted  by  the 
treasures  that  were  poured  daily  into  their  con- 
vent by  the  liberality  of  the  opulent  and  pious, 
they  fell  from  their  primitive  austerity,  and  fol- 
lowing the  dissolute  examples  of  the  other  Bene- 
dictines, they  "gave  up  themselves  to  pleasure,  and 
dwelt  carelessly  (e)."  Several  of  the  succeeding 
abbots  endeavoured  to  remedy  this  disorder,  and 

(c)  See  Ruperti  Epistola  in  Martene  Thesaur.   Anecd. 
torn.  i.  p.  285.     This  writer  prefers  the  monks  before  the 
apostles. 

(d)  See  Bernard.  Consideration,  ad  Eugenium,  lib.  iii. 
cap.  iv. — See  also  the  Speculum  Stultorum,  or  Brunellus,  a 
Poem,  composed  by  Nigel  Wireker,  an  English  bard  of  no 
mean  reputation  who  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  xiith 
century.     In  this  poem,  of  which  several  editions  have  been 
published,  the  different  orders  of  monks  are  severely  cen- 
sured; the  Carthusians  alone  have  escaped  the  keen  and 
virulent  satire  of  this  witty  writer. 

(e)  Isaiah  xlvii.  8. 

VOL.   III.  F 


66  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    to  recover  the  declining  reputation  of  their  con- 
p  ART  ii 


vent  '  kut  tneir  efforts  were  much  less   successful 


than  they  expected,  nor  could  the  monks  of 
Clugni  ever  be  brought  back  to  their  primitive 
sanctity  and  virtue 


«Perous°s"tate  XVI.  The  Cistertian  order,  which  was  much 
of  the  inferior  to  the  monks  of  Clugni,  both  with  respect 
Order!10"  to  tne  antiquity  of  their  institution,  and  the  pos- 
sessions and  revenues  of  their  convent,  surpassed 
them  far  in  the  external  regularity  of  their  lives 
and  manners,  and  in  a  certain  striking  air  of  inno- 
cence and  sanctity,  which  they  still  retained,  and 
which  the  others  had  almost  entirely  lost.  Hence 
they  acquired  that  high  degree  of  reputation  and 
authority,  which  the  order  of  Clugni  had  formerly 
enjoyed,  and  increased  daily  in  number,  credit, 
and  opulence.  The  famous  St.  Bernard,  abbot  of 
Clairval,  whose  influence  throughout  all  Europe 
was  incredible,  whose  word  was  a  law,  and  whose 
councils  were  regarded  by  kings  and  princes  as  so 
many  orders  to  which  the  most  respectful  obe- 
dience was  due  ;  this  eminent  ecclesiastic  was  the 
person  who  contributed  most  to  enrich  and  ag- 
grandize the  Cistertian  order.  Hence  he  is  justly 
considered  as  the  second  parent  and  founder  of 
that  order  ;  and  hence  the  Cistertians,  not  only 
in  France,  but  also  in  Germany,  and  other  coun- 
tries, were  distinguished  by  the  title  of  Ber- 
nardin  monks  (^).  A  hundred  and  sixty  reli- 
gious communities  derive  their  origin,  or  their 
rules  of  discipline,  from  this  illustrious  abbot,  and 
he  left,  at  his  death,  seven  hundred  monks  in  the 
monastery  of  Clairval.  The  church  abounded 

(y)  See  Martene,  Amplissima  Collectio  Monumentor. 
Veter.  torn.  ix.  p.  1119, 

(g)  See  Jo.  Mabillon.  Annal.  Ord.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  pas- 
sim, in  vita  Sti.  Bernardi,  which  he  has  prefixed  to  his 
edition  of  the  works  of  that  saint.  —  See  also  Angeli  Manri- 
quez,  Annales  Cistercienses,  torn.  ii.  and  iii. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  67 

with  bishops  and  archbishops  that  had  been  formed    CENT. 
and  prepared  for  the  ministry  by  his  instructions,  PA^*n 

and  he  counted  also,  among  the  number  of  his 

disciples,  Eugenius  III.  one  of  the  best  and  wisest 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs. 

XVII.  The  growing  prosperity  of  the  Cister-  Jealousies 
tian  order  excited  the  envy  and  jealousy  of  the  J"^nb^e 
monks  of  Clugni,  and,  after  several  dissensions  of  Cistertians 
less  consequence,  produced  at  length  an  open 
rupture,  a  declared  war  between  these  two  opulent 
and  powerful  monasteries.  They  both  followed 
the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  though  they  differed  in 
their  habit,  and  in  certain  laws,  which  the  Cister- 
tians more  especially  had  added  to  that  rule.  The 
monks  of  Clugni  accused  the  Cistertians  of  affect- 
ing an  extravagant  austerity  in  their  manners  and 
discipline ;  while  the  Cistertians,  on  the  other 
hand,  charged  them,  and  that  upon  very  good 
grounds,  with  having  degenerated  from  their 
former  sanctity,  and  regularity  of  conduct.  St. 
Bernard,  who  was  the  oracle  and  protector  of  the 
Cistertians,  wrote,  in  the  year  1127,  an  Apology 
for  his  own  conduct,  in  relation  to  the  division 
that  subsisted  between  the  two  convents,  and  in- 
veighed with  a  just,  though  decent,  seventy  against 
the  vices  that  corrupted  the  monks  of  Clugni  (//). 
This  charge  was  answered,  though  with  uncom- 


_  This  Apology,  as  it  is  called,  of  St.  Bernard  is 

well  worth  the  attention  of  the  curious  reader,  as  it  exhibits 
a  true  and  lively  picture  of  monastic  opulence  and  luxury, 
and  shows  how  the  religious  orders  in  general  lived  in  this 
century.  The  famous  abbot,  in  this  performance,  accuses 
the  monks  of  Clugni  of  luxury  and  intemperance  at  their 
table,  of  superfluity  and  magnificence  in  their  dress,  their 
bedchambers,  their  furniture,  equipage,  and  buildings.  He 
points  out  the  pride  and  vanity  of  the  abbots,  who  looked 
much  more  like  the  governors  of  provinces,  than  the  spiri- 
tual fathers  of  humble  and  holy  communities,  whose  original 
profession  it  was,  to  be  crucified  and  dead  to  the  interests 
and  pleasures,  the  pomps  and  vanities  of  a  present  world.  He 

F  2 


68 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


CENT,    mon  moderation   and   candour,  by   Peter   Mau- 
PAKI-  ii   ricms>  abbot  of  Cluni  ;  and  hence  it  occasioned 


Lives  and 


a  controversy  in  form,  which  spread  from  day  to 
day  its  baneful  influence,  and  excited  disturbances 
in  several  provinces  of  Europe  (z).  It  was,  how- 
ever, followed  with  a  much  more  vehement  and 
bitter  contest  concerning  an  exemption  from  the 
payment  of  tythes,  granted  among  other  privileges 
and  immunities  to  the  Cistertians,  A.  D.  1  132, 
by  Innocent  II.  A  considerable  part  of  the 
lands  which  the  Cistertians  possessed,  and  to 
which  the  pontiff  granted  this  exemption,  were 
subject  to  the  monks  of  Clugni,  who  suffered  con- 
sequently by  this  act  of  liberality,  and  disputed 
the  matter,  not  only  with  the  Cistertians,  but 
with  the  pope  himself.  This  keen  dispute  was, 
in  some  measure,  terminated  in  the  year  1155, 
but  in  what  manner,  or  upon  what  conditions,  is 
more  than  is  come  to  our  knowledge  (£). 

XVIII.  The  regular  canons,  who  were  erected 
*nto  a  ^xe(^  an^  permanent  order  in  the  preceding 
century,  employed  their  time  in  a  much  more 
useful  and  exemplary  manner  than  the  monastic 

declares,  with  a  pious  concern,  that  he  knew  several  abbots, 
each  of  whom  had  more  than  sixty  horses  in  his  stable,  and 
such  a  prodigious  variety  of  wines  in  his  cellar,  that  it  was 
scarcely  possible  to  taste  the  half  of  them  at  a  single  enter- 
tainment. See  Fleury,  Hist.  Ecclesiastique,  liv.  Ixxvii.  torn. 
xiv.  p.  351.  edit.  Bruxelles. 

(i)  See  S.  Bernardini  Apologia  in  Oper.  torn.  i.  p.  523  —  533. 
The  Apology  of  Peter,  abbot  of  Clugni,  surnamed  the  vener- 
able, which  is  published  among  his  Epistles,  lib.  i.  ep.  28.  in 
the  Bibliotheca  Cluniacensis,  toni.  i.  p.  657  —  695.  See  also 
the  Dialogus  inter  Cluniacensem  et  Cisterciensem,  published 
by  Martene,  in  his  Thesaur.  Anecdot.  torn.  v.  p.  1573  —  1613. 
Compare  with  all  these  Mabillon  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p. 
80.  and  Manriquez,  Annal.  Cisterc.  torn.  i.  p.  28. 

(k)  See  Angeli  Manriquez,  Annal.  Cistercienses,  torn.  i.  p. 
232.  —  Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  212.  479.  et 
Praefat.  ad  Opera  S.  Bernardi.  —  Jo.  de  Lannes,  Histoire  du 
Pontificat  d'Innocent  II.  p.  68  —  79.—  Jo.  Nic.  Hertii  Diss. 
de  exemptione  Cisterc.  a  decimis. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government^  Sec.  6$ 

drones,  who  passed  their  days  in  luxury  and  sloth.    CENT. 
.They  kept  public  schools  for  the  instruction  of  PA*T'II( 

youth,  and  exercised   a   variety   of  ecclesiastical 

functions,  which  rendered  them  extremely  useful 
to  the  church  (/).  Hence  they  rose  daily  in 
credit  and  reputation,  and  received  many  rich  and 
noble  donations  from  several  persons,  whose  opu- 
lence and  piety  rendered  them  able  and  willing  to 
distinguish  merit,  and  were  also  often  put  in  pos- 
session of  the  revenues  of  the  monks,  whose  dis- 
solute lives  occasioned,  from  time  to  time,  the 
suppression  of  their  convents.  This,  as  might 
well  be  expected,  inflamed  the  rage  of  the  mo- 
nastic orders  against  the  regular  canons,  whom 
they  attacked  with  the  greatest  fury,  and  loaded 
with  the  bitterest  invectives.  The  canons,  in  their 
turn,  were  far  from  being  backward  in  making 
reprisals ;  they  exclaimed,  on  the  contrary,  against 
the  monks  with  the  utmost  vehemence ;  enume- 
rated their  vices  both  in  their  discourses  and  in 
their  writings,  and  insisted  upon  their  being  con- 
fined to  their  monasteries,  sequestered  from  human 
society,  and  excluded  from  all  ecclesiastical  honours 
and  functions.  Hence  arose  a  long  and  warm 
contest  between  the  monks  and  canons  concerning 
pre-eminence,  in  which  both  parties  carried  their 
pretensions  too  high,  and  exceeded  the  bounds 
of  decency  and  moderation  (772).  The  champions, 
who  espoused  the  interests  of  the  monks,  were  the 
famous  Peter  Abelard,  Hugh  of  Amiens,  Rupert 
of  Duytz  ;  while  the  cause  of  the  canons  was  de- 
fended by  Philip  Harvengius,  a  learned  abbot, 
and  several  other  men  of  genius  and  abilities  (n). 

(1)  See  the  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France,  torn.  ix.  p. 
112. 

(m)  See  Lambert!  Epistola  in  Martene,  Thesaur.  Anecdot. 
torn.  i.  p.  329. 

(?j)  Abelardi  Opera,  p.  228.  Paris,  1616.  in  4to. — Mar- 
tene, Thesaur.  Anecdot.  torn.  v.  p.  970—975.  1614.  et  Am- 


PART 


70  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    The  effects  and  remains  of  this  ancient  contro- 

kIL      versy  are  yet  visible  in  our  times. 

ii.       vW    \  -  .      c  T>       !•  .• 

XIX.  A  new  society  of  religious  Benedictines 

-  arose  about  the  commencement  of  this  century, 
whose  principal  monastery  was  erected  in  a  barren 
and  solitary  place,  called  Fontevraud,  between 
Angers  and  Tours,  from  whence  the  order  de- 
rived its  name.  Robert  of  Arbriselles,  its  founder, 
who  had  been  first  a  hermit,  and  afterwards  a 
monk,  prescribed  to  his  religious  of  both  sexes 
the  rule  of  St.  Benedict,  amplified,  however,  by 
the  addition  of  several  new  laws,  which  were  ex- 
tremely singular  and  excessively  severe.  Among 
other  singularities  that  distinguished  this  insti- 
tution, one  was,  that  the  several  monasteries  which 
Robert  had  built,  within  one  and  the  same  in- 
closure,  for  his  monks  and  nuns,  were  all  sub- 
jected to  the  authority  and  government  of  one 
abbess  ;  in  justification  of  which  measure,  the 
example  of  Christ  was  alleged,  who  recommended 
St.  John  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  imposed  it  as 
an  order  upon  that  beloved  disciple,  to  be  obe- 
dient to  her  as  to  his  own  mother  (o).  This 
new  order,  like  all  other  novelties  of  that  kind, 
gained  immediately  a  high  degree  of  credit  ;  the 
singularity  of  its  discipline,  its  form,  and  its  laws, 
engaged  multitudes  to  embrace  it,  and  thus  the 

plissima  ejusdem  Collectio,  torn.  ix.  p.  971,  972.  —  Phil.  Har- 
vengii  Opera,  p.  385.  Duaci  1621.  in  folio* 

(o)  See  the  Works  of  Abelard,  p.  48.  whose  testimony  in 
this  matter  is  confirmed  by  the  present  state  and  constitution 
of  this  famous  order  ;  though  Mabillon,  from  an  excessive 
partiality  in  favour  of  the  Benedictines,  has  endeavoured  to 
diminish  its  credit  in  his  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  v.  p.  423. 
For  an  account  of  Robert  and  his  order,  see  the  Acta  Sanctor. 
torn.  iii.  Februar.  p.  593.  —  Dion.  Sammarthani  Gallia  Chri- 
stiana, torn.  ii.  p.  1311.  —  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article 
Fontevraud.  —  Helyot,  Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  vi.  p.  83.  —  The 
present  state  of  this  monastery  is  described  by  Moleon,  in 
his  Voyages  Liturglques,  p.  108.  and  by  Martene,  in  his 
Voyage  Litternii  e  de  deux  Bcnedictins,  part  II.  p.  i. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

labours  of  its  founder  were  crowned  with  remark- 

able  success.     [Sil0  But  the  association  of  vigorous  PART  n. 

monks  and  tender  virgins,  in  the  same  community, 

was  an  imprudent  measure,  and  could  not  but  be 
attended  with  many  inconveniences.  However 
that  be,  Robert  continued  his  pious  labours,  and 
the  order  of  his  sanctity  perfumed  all  the  places 
where  he  exercised  his  .ministry.]  He  was, 
indeed,  suspected  by  some  of  too  great  an  inti- 
macy with  his  female  disciples,  and  it  was  ru- 
moured about,  that  in  order  to  try  his  virtue,  by 
opposing  it  to  the  strongest  temptations,  he  ex- 
posed it  to  an  inevitable  defeat  by  the  manner 
in  which  he  conversed  with  these  holy  virgins. 
It  was  even  said,  that  their  commerce  was  sof- 
tened by  something  more  tender  than  divine 
love  ;  against  which  charge,  his  disciples  have 
used  their  most  zealous  endeavours  to  defend  their 
master  Qt?). 

XX.  Norbert,  a  German  nobleman,  who  went  The  order 
into  holy  orders,  and  was  afterwards  archbishop  of  °^Premon- 
Magdebourg,   employed  his  most  zealous  efforts 
to  restore  to  its  primitive  severity  the  discipline  of 

(p)  See  the  letters  of  Geoffry,  abbot  of  Vendome,  and  of 
Marbod,  bishop  of  Rennes,  in  which  Robert  is  accused  of 
lying  in  the  same  bed  with  the  nuns.  How  the  grave  abbot 
was  defended  against  this  accusation  by  the  members  of  his 
order  may  be  seen  in  Mainferme's  Clypeus  Nascentis  Ordinis 
Fontebraldensis,  published  in  8vo.  at  Paris,  in  the  year  1 684  ; 
and  also  by  another  production  of  the  same  author,  entitled, 
Dissertationes  in  Epistolam  contra  Robertum  de  Arbrissello, 
Salmurii,  1682.  in  8vo.  Bayle's  account  of  this  famous  abbot, 
in  which  there  is  such  an  admirable  mixture  of  wit,  sense, 
and  malice,  has  been  also  attacked  by  several  authors  :  see, 
among  others,  the  Dissertation  Apologetique  pour  le  bien- 
heureux  Robert  d'Arbrisselles  sur  ce  qu'en  a  dit  M.  Bayle, 
Anvers,  1701.  in  8vo.— Mabillon,  Annal.  torn.  v.  et  vi.  p.  9, 
10. 

ffSg13  In  the  year  1177,  some  nuns  of  this  order  were 
brought  into  England  at  the  desire  of  Henry  II.  who  gave 
them  the  monastery  of  Ambresbury  in  Wiltshire.  They  had 
two  other  houses  here ;  the  one  at  Eton,  the  other  at  West- 
wood,  in  Worcestershire. 


72  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  regular  canons,  which  was  extremely  relaxed 
PART!  ii   m  some  places,  and  almost  totally  abolished  in 

others.     This  eminent  reformer  founded,  in  the 

year  1121,  the  order  of  Premontre,  in  Picardy, 
whose  fame  spread  throughout  Europe  with  an 
amazing  rapidity,  and  whose  opulence,  in  a  short 
space  of  time,  became  excessive  and  enormous  (<;), 
in  consequence  of  the  high  esteem  which  the 
monks  of  this  community  had  acquired  by  the 
gravity  of  their  manners,  and  their  assiduous  ap- 
plication to  the  liberal  aits  and  sciences.  But 
their  overgrown  prosperity  was  the  source  of  their 
ruin ;  it  soon  diminished  their  zeal  for  the  exer- 
cises of  devotion,  extinguished  their  thirst  after 
useful  knowledge,  and  thus,  step  by  step,  plunged 
them,  at  length,  into  all  sorts  of  vices.  The 
rule  which  they  followed  was  that  of  St.  Au- 
gustin,  with  some  slight  alterations,  and  an 
addition  of  certain  severe  laws,  whose  authority, 
however,  did  not  long  survive  their  austere 
founder  (r). 


(q)  The  religious  of  this  order  were  at  first  so  poor, 
that  they  had  nothing  they  could  call  their  own,  but  a  single 
ass,  which  served  to  carry  the  wood  they  cut  down  every 
morning,  and  sent  to  Laon  in  order  to  purchase  bread,  But 
in  a  short  time  they  received  so  many  donations,  and  built  so 
many  monasteries,  that,  thirty  years  after  the  foundation  of 
this  order,  they  had  above  a  hundred  abbies  in  France  and 
Germany.  In  process  of  time,  the  order  increased  so  pro- 
digiously, that  it  had  monasteries  in  all  parts  of  Christen- 
dom, amounting  to  1000  abbies,  300  provostships,  a  vast 
number  of  priories,  and  500  nunneries.  But  this  number  is 
now  greatly  diminished.  Besides  what  tlrey  lost  in  Pro- 
testant countries,  of  sixty-five  abbies,  that  they  had  in  Italy, 
there  is  not  one  now  remaining. 

(r)  See  Helyor,  Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  ii.  p.  156. — Chry- 
sost.  Vander  Sterie,  Vita  S.  Norberti  Praemonstratensium 
Patriarcha?,  published  in  8vo.  at  Antwerp,  in  1656. — Louis 
Hugues,  Vie  de  S.  Norbert,  Luxemb.  1704,  in  4to. — Add  to 
these,  notwithstanding  his  partiality,  Jo.  Launois,  Inquisit. 
in  Privilegia  Ordin.  Prsemonstrat.  cap.  i,  ii.  Oper.  torn.  iii. 
part  I.  p.  448.  For  an  account  of  the  present  state  of  the 
order  of  Praemontre,  see  Martene's  Voyage  Litteraire  de 
deux  Bcnedictins,  torn.  ii.  p<  59. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  £c.  73 

XXL   About   the   middle  of  this   century,  a    CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II. 


certain  Calabrian,  whose  name  was  Berthold,  set 


out  with  a  few  companions  for  mount  Carmel, 
and,  upon  the  very  spot  where  the  prophet  Elias  Carmelites. 
is  said  to  have  disappeared,  built  an  humble  cot- 
tage, with  an  adjoining  chapel,  in  which  he  led  a 
life  of  solitude,  austerity,  and  labour.  This  little 
colony  subsisted,  and  the  places  of  those  that  died 
were  more  than  filled  by  new-comers ;  so  that  it 
was,  at  length  (s),  erected  into  a  monastic  com- 
munity by  Albeit,  patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  This 
austere  prelate  drew  up  a  rule  of  discipline  for 
the  new  monks,  which  was  afterwards  confirmed 
by  the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  who 
modified  and  altered  it  in  several  respects,  and, 
among  other  corrections,  mitigated  its  excessive 
rigour  and  severity  (f).  Such  was  the  origin  of 
the  famous  Order  of  Carmelites,  or,  as  they  are 
commonly  called,  of  the  Order  of  our  Lady  of 
Mount  Carmel,  which  was  afterwards  transplanted 
from  Syria  into  Europe,  and  obtained  the  prin- 
cipal rank  among  the  mendicant  or  begging 
orders.  It  is  true,  the  Carmelites  reject,  with 

Efgg0  The  Prsemonstratenses,  or  monks  of  Premontre,  vul- 
garly called  White  Canons,  came  first  into  England,  A.  D. 
11.46.  Their  first  monastery,  called  New  House,  was  built 
in  Lincolnshire,  by  Peter  de  Saulia,  and  dedicated  to  St. 
Martial.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  the  order  in  question 
had  twenty-seven  monasteries  in  England. 

(.9)  In  the  year  1205. 

(if)  I  have  here  principally  followed  Dan.  Papebroch,  an 
accurate  writer,  and  one  who  is  always  careful  to  produce 
sufficient  testimonies  of  the  truth  of  his  narrations.  See  the 
Acta  Sanctor.  Antwerp.  Mense  April,  torn.'  iii.  p.  774 — 802. 
It  is  well  known  that  an  accusation  was  brought  against  this 
learned  Jesuit,  before  the  tribunal  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  by 
the  Carmelites,  on  account  of  his  having  called  in  question 
the  dignity  and  high  antiquity  of  their  order.  We  have  in 
Helyot's  Hist,  des  Ordres,  to*m.  i.  p.  282.  an  account  of  this 
long  and  tedious  contest,  which  was  so  far  determined,  or 
at  least  suspended,  in  the  year  1698,  by  Innocent  XII.  that 
silence  was  imposed  upon  the  contending  parties. 


74  The  Internal  Histoty  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  highest  indignation,  an  origin  so  recent  and 
PART*'!!    °bscure>   and  affirm  to  this  very  day,  that  the 

1  prophet   Elias  was    the   parent   and   founder   of 

their  ancient  community  (?/).  Very  few,  however, 
have  been  engaged  to  adopt  this  fabulous  and 
chimerical  account  of  their  establishments,  except 
the  members  of  the  order,  and  many  Roman 
catholic  writers  have  treated  their  pretensions  to 
such  a  remote  antiquity  with  the  utmost  con- 
tempt (w).  [ggf0  And  scarcely,  indeed,  can  any 
thing  be  more  ridiculous  than  the  circumstantial 
narrations  of  the  occasion,  origin,  founder,  and 
revolutions  of  this  famous  order,  which  we  find 
in  several  ecclesiastical  authors,  whose  zeal  for 
this  fraternity  has  rendered  them  capable  of 
adopting,  without  reluctance,  or,  at  least,  of  recit- 
ing without  shame,  the  most  puerile  and  glaring 
absurdities.  They  tell  us  that  Elias  was  intro- 
duced into  the  state  of  monachism  by  the  ministry 
of  angels  ;  that  his  first  disciples  were  Jonah, 
Micah,  and  also  Obadiah,  whose  wife,  in  order 
to  get  rid  of  an  importunate  crowd  of  lovers, 
who  fluttered  about  her  at  the  court  of  Achab, 
after  the  departure  of  her  husband,  bound  herself 
by  a  vow  of  chastity,  received  the  veil  from  the 
hands  of  father  Elias,  and  thus  became  the  first 
abbess  of  the  Carmelite  Order.  They  enter  into 
a  vast  detail  of  all  the  circumstances  that  relate 
to  the  rules  of  discipline  which  were  drawn  up  for 
this  community,  the  habit  which  distinguished 

(M)  The  most  concise  and  accurate  of  all  the  Carmelite 
writers,  who  have  treated  this  matter,  is  Thomas  Aquinas, 
a  French  monk,  in  his  Dissertatio  Histor.  Theol.  in  qua  Pa- 
triarchatus  Ordinis  Carmelitarum  Prophetse  Eliac  vindicatur, 
published  in  8vo.  at  Paris  in  the  year  1632.  The  modern 
writers  who  have  maintained  the  cause  of  the  Carmelites 
against  Papebroch  are  extremely  prolix  and  tiresome. 

(w)  See  Harduini  Opera  Posthum.  p.  61-2. — Labat.  Voyage 
en  Espagne  et  Italie,  torn.  iii.  p.  87. — Couniyer,  Examen  dcs 
Defauts  Theologiques;  torn.  i.  p.  455. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  75 

its  members,    and   the  various   alterations  which    CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II. 


were  introduced   into  their  rule  of  discipline  in 


process  of  time.  They  observe,  that,  among 
other  marks  which  were  used  to  distinguish  the 
Carmelites  from  the  seculars,  the  tonsure  was 
one  ;  that  this  mark  of  distinction  exposed  them, 
indeed,  to  the  mockeries  of  a  profane  multitude  ; 
and  that  this  furnishes  the  true  explication  of 
the  terms  bald  head,  which  the  children  addressed, 
by  way  of  reproach,  to  Elisha  as  he  was  on 
his  way  to  Carmel  (#).  They  tell  us,  moreover, 
that  Pythagoras  was  a  member  of  this  ancient 
order  ;  that  he  drew  all  his  wisdom  from  mount 
Carmel,  and  had  several  conversations  with  the 
prophet  Daniel  at  Babylon,  upon  the  subject 
of  the  Trinity.  Nay,  they  go  still  farther  into 
the  region  of  fable,  and  assert,  that  the  Virgin 
Mary,  and  Jesus  himself,  assumed  the  habit  and 
profession  of  Carmelites ;  and  they  load  this 
fiction  with  a  heap  of  absurd  circumstances, 
which  it  is  impossible  to  read  without  the  highest 
astonishment]  (#). 


(.r)   See  2  Kings  ii.  23. 

ilg0  (y)  For  an  ample  account  of  all  the  absurd  inven- 
tions here  hinted  at.  see  a  very  remarkable  work  entitled 
Ordres  Monastiques,  Histoire  extraite  de  tous  les  Auteurs 
qui  ont  conserve  a  la  Posterite  ce  qu'il  y  a  de  plus  curieux 
dans  chaque  Ordre,  enrichie  d'un  tres  grand  Nombre  de 
Passages  des  mem.es  Auteurs ;  pour  servir  de  Demonstra- 
tion que  ce  qu'on  y  avance  est   egalement  veritable  et 
curieux."     This  work,  which  was  first  printed  at  Paris  in 
1751,  under  the  title  of  Berlin,  and  which  was  suppressed 
almost  as  soon  as  it  appeared,  is  written  with  great  wit,  elo- 
quence, and  learning  •    and  all  the  narrations  it  contains  are 
confirmed  by  citations  from  the  most  eminent  authors,  who 
have  given  accounts  of  the  religious  orders.     The  author's 
design  seems  to  have  been  to  expose  the  monks  of  every  de- 
nomination to  the  laughter  of  his  readers  ;  and  it  is  very  re- 
markable, that,  in  the  execution  of  this  purpose,  he  has 
drawn  his  materials  from  the  gravest  authors,  and  from  the 
most  zealous  defenders  of  monachism.    If  he  has  embellished 
his  subject,  it  is  by  the  vivacity  of  his  manner,  and  the  witty 


76  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  XXII.  To  this  brief  account  of  the  religious 
PA™  ii  01>ders,  it  wiM  not  be  amiss  to  add  a  list  of  the 

— _ 1  principal  Greek  and  Latin  writers  that  flourished 

Greek  wri.  fn  this  century.  The  most  eminent  among  the 
Greeks  were  those  that  follow : 

Philippus  Solitarius,  whose  Dioptra,  or  contro- 
versy between  the  soul  and  the  body,  is  sufficiently 
known : 

Eustratius,  who  maintained  the  cause  of  the 
Greek  church  against  the  Latins  with  great  learn- 
ing and  spirit,  and  who  wrote  commentaries  on 
certain  books  of  Aristotle  ; 

Euthymius  Zigabenus,  who,  by  his  Anti-heretical 
Panoply,  together  with  his  commentaries  upon 
several  parts  of  the  sacred  writings,  has  acquired 
a  place  among  the  principal  authors  of  this  cen- 
tury (*)  ; 

Johannes  Zonaras,  whose  Annals,  together  with 
several  other  productions  of  his  learned  pen,  are 
still  extant ; 

Michael  Glycas,  who  also  applied  himself  to 
historical  composition,  as  well  as  to  other  branches 
of  learning  («)  ; 

Constantius  Haraienopulus,  whose  commen- 
taries on  the  civil  and  canon  laws  are  deservedly 
esteemed ; 

elegance  of  his  style,  and  not  by  laying  to  the  charge  of  the 
monastic  communities  any  practices  which  their  most  serious 
historians  omit  or  disavow.  The  authors  of  the  Bibliotheque 
des  Sciences  et  des  Beaux  Arts,  at  the  Hague,  have  given 
several  interesting  extracts  of  this  work  in  the  2d,  3d,  4th, 
and  5th  volumes  of  that  literary  journal. 

llgp0  The  Carmelites  came  into  England  in  the  year  1240, 
and  erected  there  a  vast  number  of  monasteries  almost 
through  the  whole  kingdom.  See  Broughton's  Historical 
Library,  vol.  i.  p.  208. 

(z)  See  Rich  Simon,  Critique  de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Au- 
teurs  Eccles.  par  M.  Du  Pin,  torn.  i.  p.  318.  324. 

(a)  Other  historians  place  Glycas  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
See  Lami  Dissertatio  de  Glyca,  which  is  prefixed  to  the  first 
volume  of  his  Deliciae  virorum  eruditorum. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  77 

Andronicus  Camaterus,  who  wrote  with  great    CENT. 
warmth  and  vehemence  against   the  Latins  and 
Armenians ; 

Eustathius,  bishop  of  Thessalonica,  the  most 
learned  of  the  Greeks  in  this  century,  and  the 
celebrated  commentator  of  the  Iliad ; 

Theodorus  Balsamon,  who  employed  great  dili- 
gence, erudition  and  labour,  in  explaining  and 
digesting  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  laws  of  the 
Greeks  (/>). 

XXIII.  The  most  eminent  among  the  Latin  Latin 

•  ,  ters. 

writers  were, 

Bernard,  abbot  of  Clairval,  from  whom  the 
Cistertian  monks,  as  has  been  already  observed, 
derived  the  title  of  Bernardins ;  a  man  who  was 
not  destitute  of  genius  and  taste,  and  whose  judg- 
ment, in  many  respects,  was  just  and  penetrat- 
ing ;  but  who,  on  the  other  hand,  discovered  in 
his  conduct  many  marks  of  superstition  and 
weakness,  and,  what  was  still  worse,  concealed  the 
lust  of  dominion  under  the  mask  of  piety,  and 
made  no  scruple  of  loading  with  false  accusations, 
such  as  had  the  misfortune  to  incur  his  displea- 
sure (c)  ; 

Innocent  III.  bishop  of  Rome,  whose  epistles 
and  other  productions  contribute  to  illustrate  the 
religious  sentiments,  as  also  the  discipline  and 
morals,  that  prevailed  in  this  century  (</)  ; 

Anselm,  of  Laon,  a  man  of  a  subtle  genius,  and 
deeply  versed  in  logical  disquisition ; 

(b)  See  the  Bibliotheca  Graeca  of  Fabricius. 

(c)  The  learned  Mabillon  has  given  a  splendid  edition 
of  the  works  of  St.  Bernard,  and  has  not  only  in  his  preface 
made  many  excellent  observations  upon  the  life  and  history 
of  this  famous  abbot,  but  has  also  subjoined  to  his  works, 
the  accounts  that  have  been  given,  by  the  ancient  writers, 
of  his  life  and  actions. 

(d)  The  Epistles  of  Innocent  III.  were  published  at  Paris, 
in  two  large  volumes  in  folio,  by  Baluzius,  in  the  year  1682. 


PART  II. 


78  The  Internal  History  of  the  Chprch. 

CENT.  Abelard,  the  disciple  of  Anselm,  and  most  fa- 
XIIi  mous  in  this  century,  on  account  of  the  elegance 
of  his  wit,  the  extent  of  his  erudition,  the  power 
of  his  rhetoric,  and  the  bitterness  of  his  unhappy 
fate  (<?)  ; 

Geoffry  of  Vendome,  whose  Epistles  and  Dis- 
sertations are  yet  extant ; 

Rupert  of  Duytz,  the  most  eminent,  per- 
haps, of  all  the  expositors  of  the  holy  scriptures, 
who  flourished  among  the  Latins  during  this 
century,  a  man  of  a  sound  judgment  and  an  ele- 
gant taste  (f )  ; 

Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  a  man  distinguished  by 
the  fecundity  of  his  genius,  who  treated  in  his 
writings  of  all  the  branches  of  sacred  and  profane 
erudition,  that  were  known  in  his  time,  and  who 
composed  several  dissertations  that  are  not  desti- 
tute of  merit  (g)  ; 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Mystics  in  this  century,  and  whose  treatise, 
entitled,  The  Mystical  Ark,  which  contains,  as 
it  were,  the  marrow  of  that  kind  of  theology,  was 
received  with  the  greatest  avidity,  and  applauded 
by  the  fanatics  of  the  times  (/?)  , 

(e)  See  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  articles  Abelard  and 
Paraclet. — Gervais,  Vie  de  Pierre  Abeillard,  Abbe  de  lluys, 
et  de  Heloise,  published  at  Paris  in  two  volumes  8vo.  in  the 
year  1728.  The  works  of  this  famous  and  unfortunate  monk 
were  published  at  Paris  in  1616,  in  one  volume  4to.  by 
Franc.  Amboise.  Another  edition,  much  more  ample,  might 
be  given,  since  there  are  a  great  number  of  the  productions 
of  Abelard  that  have  never  yet  seen  the  light. 

{/)  See  Mabillon,  Annal.  Bened.  torn.  vi.  p.  19,  20.  4-2. 
144.  168.  261.  282.  296.  who  gives  an  ample  account  of  Ru- 
pert,  and  of  the  disputes  in  which  he  was  involved. 

(g)  See  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  vii.  p.  661.  The  works  of 
this  learned  man  were  published  at  Rouen,  in  three  volumes 
in  folio,  in  the  year  164-8.  See  for  a  farther  account  of  him, 
Derlangii  Dissert,  de  Hugoni  a  S.  Victoire,  Helmstadt,  174-6, 
in  4-to.  and  Martene's  Voyage  Litterairc,  torn.  ii.  p.  91,  92. 

(//)  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  vii.  p.  669. 


CHAP.  n.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  79 

Honorius  of  Autun  (e),  no  mean  philosopher,    CENT. 
and  tolerably  versed  in  theological  learning ; 

Gratian,    a   learned   monk,    who   reduced   the . 
canon  law  into  a  new  and  regular  form,   in  his 
vast  compilation  of  the  decisions  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  councils,  the  decretals  of  the  pontiffs, 
the  capitularies  of  the  kings  of  France,  &c. ; 

William  of  Rheims,  the  author 'of  several  pro- 
ductions, every  way  adapted  to  excite  pious  sen- 
timents, and  to  contribute  to  the  progress  of 
practical  religion ; 

Peter  Lombard,  who  was  commonly  called, 
in  France,  Master  of  the  Sentences,  because  he 
had  composed  a  work  so  entitled,  which  was  a 
collection  of  opinions  and  sentences  relative  to 
the  various  branches  of  theology,  extracted  from 
the  Latin  doctors,  and  reduced  into  a  sort  of 
system  (/r)  ; 

Gilbertus  Porretanus  (/),  a  subtle  dialectician, 
and  a  learned  divine,  who  is,  however,  said  to 
have  adopted  several  erroneous  sentiments  con- 
cerning The  Divine  Essence  ;  The  Incarnation  ; 
and  The  Trinity  (m) ; 

William  of  Auxerre,  who  acquired  a  consider- 
able reputation  by  his  Theological  System  '(n)  ; 

Peter  of  Blois  (o),  whose  epistles  and  other 
productions  may  yet  be  read  with  profit ; 

(/')  Such  is  the  place  to  which  Honorius  is  said  to  have 
belonged.  But  Le  Bceuf  proves  him  to  have  been  a  German, 
in  his  Dissert,  sur  1'Hist.  Francoise,  torn.  i.  p.  254-. 

(k)  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  vii.  p.  68. 

(/)  Gilbert,  De  la  Poiree. 

^g3""  (m)  He  held,  among  other  things,  this  trifling  and 
sophistical  proposition,  that  the  divine  essence  and  attributes 
are  not  God ;  a  proposition  that  was  every  way  proper  to 
exercise  the  quibbling  spirit  of  the  scholastic  writers. 

(n)  Le  Bceuf,  Dissert,  sur  la  Somme  Theologique  de  Guil- 
laume  d'Auxerre,  in  Molat's  Continuation  des  Memoircs 
d'Histoire  et  de  Litterature,  torn.  iii.  part  II.  p.  317. 

(o)  Petrus  Blesensis. 


XII. 

PART   II. 


The  Intemial  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  John  of  Salisbury,  a  man  of  great  learning  and 
true  genius,  whose  philosophical  and  theological 
knowledge  was  adorned  with  a  lively  wit  and  a 
flowing  eloquence,  as  appears  in  his  Metalogicus, 
and  his  book  De  nugis  Curialium ; 

Petrus  Comestor,  author  of  An  Abridgment 
of  the  History  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
which  was  used  in  the  schools  for  the  instruction 
of  the  youth,  and  called  probably  from  thence, 
Historia  Scholastica. 

A  more  ample  account  of  the  names  and  charac- 
ters of  the  Latin  writers  may  be  found  in  those 
authors  who  have  professedly  treated  that  branch 
of  literature. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the  Christian  Church 
in  this  Century. 

Christianity  I.  WHEN  we  consider  the  multitude  of  causes 
!  w^icn  united  their  influence  in  obscuring  the 
lustre  of  genuine  Christianity,  and  corrupting 
it  by  a  profane  mixture  of  the  inventions  of 
superstitious  and  designing  men  with  its  pure 
and  sublime  doctrines,  it  will  appear  surprising, 
that  the  religion  of  Jesus  was  not  totally  extin- 
guished. All  orders  contributed,  though  in  dif- 
ferent ways,  to  corrupt  the  native  purity  of  true 
religion.  The  Roman  pontiffs  led  the  way ; 
they  would  not  suffer  any  doctrines  that  had  the 
smallest  tendency  to  diminish  their  despotic- 
authority  ;  but  obliged  the  public  teachers  to 
interpret  the  precepts  of  Christianity  in  such  a 
manner,  as  to  render  them  subservient  to  the  sup- 
port of  papal  dominion  and  tyranny.  This  order 
was  so  much  the  more  terrible,  in  that  such  as  re- 
fused to  comply  with  it,  and  to  force  the  words  of 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  81 

scripture  into  significations  totally  opposite  to  the  CENT. 
intention  of  its  divine  author,  such,  in  a  word,  as 
had  the  courage  to  place  the  authority  of  the 
gospel  above  that  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  and  to 
consider  it  as  the  supreme  rule  of  their  conduct, 
were  answered  with  the  formidable  arguments  of 
fire  and  sword,  and  received  death  in  the  most 
cruel  forms,  as  the  fruit  of  their  sincerity  and 
resolution.  The  priests  and  monks  contributed, 
in  their  way,  to  disfigure  the  beautiful  simplicity 
of  religion  ;  and,  finding  it  their  interest  to  keep 
the  people  in  the  grossest  ignorance  and  darkness, 
dazzled  their  feeble  eyes  with  the  ludicrous  pomp 
of  a  gaudy  worship,  and  led  them  to  place  the 
whole  of  religion  in  vain  ceremonies,  bodily  aus- 
terities and  exercises,  and  particularly  in  a  blind 
arid  stupid  veneration  for  the  clergy.  The  scho- 
lastic doctors,  who  considered  the  decisions  of  the 
ancients,  and  the  precepts  of  the  Dialecticians  as 
the  great  rule  and  criterion  of  truth,  instead  of 
explaining  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  mined  them 
by  degrees,  and  sunk  divine  truth  under  the  ruins 
of  a  captious  philosophy  ;  while  the  Mystics, 
running  into  the  opposite  extreme,  maintained, 
that  the  souls  of  the  truly  pious  were  incapable  of 
any  spontaneous  motions,  and  could  only  be  moved 
by  a  divine  impulse  ;  and  thus  not  only  set  limits 
to  the  pretensions  of  reason,  but  excluded  it  en- 
tirely from  religion  and  morality  ;  nay,  in  some 
measure,  denied  its  very  existence. 

II.  The  consequences  of  all  this  were  super- 


stition  and  ignorance,  which  were   substituted  in  tion  reig,ns 

,11  P  !•     •  i  i       among  the 

the  place  or  true  religion,  and  reigned  over  the  multitude. 
multitude  with  an  universal  sway.  Ilelics,  which 
were  for  the  most  part  fictitious,  or  at  least  un- 
certain, attracted  more  powerfully  the  confidence 
of  the  people,  than  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  were 
supposed  by  many  to  be  more  effectual,  than  the 
prayers  offered  to  heaven,  through  the  mediation 

VOL.  III.  G 


82  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and  intercession   of  that   divine    Redeemer  (p). 

PARTII.  The  op^ent,  whose  circumstances  enabled  them 
either  to  erect  new  temples,  or  to  repair  and  em- 
bellish the  old,  were  looked  upon  as  the  happiest 
of  all  mortals,  and  were  considered  as  the  most 
intimate  friends  of  the  Most  High.  While  they, 
whom  poverty  rendered  incapable  of  such  pompous 
acts  of  liberality,  contributed  to  the  multiplication 
of  religious  edifices  by  their  bodily  labours,  cheer- 
fully performed  the  services  that  beasts  of  burden 
are  usually  employed  in,  such  as  carrying  stones 
and  drawing  waggons,  and  expected  to  obtain 
eternal  salvation  by  these  voluntary  and  painful 
efforts  of  misguided  zeal  (^).  The  saints  had  a 
greater  number  of  worshippers  than  the  Supreme 
Being  and  the  Saviour  of  mankind  ;  nor  did  these 
superstitious  worshippers  trouble  their  heads  about 
that  knotty  question,  which  occasioned  much  debate 
and  many  laborious  disquisitions  in  succeeding 
times,  viz.  How  the  inhabitants  of  heaven  came  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  prayers  and  supplications  that 
were  addressed  to  them  from  the  earth?  This 
question  was  prevented  in  this  century  by  an 
opinion,  which  the  Christians  had  received  from 
their  pagan  ancestors,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
heaven  descended  often  from  above,  and  fre- 
quented the  places  in  which  they  had  formerly 
taken  pleasure  during  their  residence  upon 
earth  (r).  To  finish  the  horrid  portrait  of  super- 


(p)  See  Guibert  de  Novigento,  De  pignoribus  (so  were 
relics  called)  sanctorum,  in  his  Works  published  by  Dachefius, 
p.  327.  where  he  attacks,  with  judgment  and  dexterity,  the 
superstition  of  these  miserable  times. 

(q)  See  Haymon's  Treatise  concerning  this  custom,  pub- 
lished by  Mabillon,  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  tome  of  his  Annal. 
Benedict.  See  also  these  Annals,  p.  392. 

(r)  As  a  proof  that  this  assertion  is  not  without  founda- 
tion, we  shall  transcribe  the  following  remarkable  passage 
of  the  Life  of  St.  Altman,  bishop  of  Padua,  as  it  stands  in 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  83 

stition,  we  shall  only  observe,  that  the  stupid  CENT. 
credulity  of  the  people  in  this  century  went  so 
far,  that  when  any  person,  either  through  the 
frenzy  of  a  disordered  imagination,  or  with  a 
design  to  deceive,  published  the  dreams  or 
visions,  which  they  fancied,  or  pretended  they  had 
from  above,  the  multitude  resorted  to  the  new- 
oracle,  and  respected  its  decisions  as  the  com- 
mands of  God,  who  in  this  way  was  pleased, 
as  they  imagined,  to  communicate  counsel,  in- 
struction, and  the  knowledge  of  his  will  to  men. 
This  appears,  to  mention  no  other  examples, 
from  the  extraordinary  reputation  which  the  two 
famous  prophetesses  Hildegard,  abbess  of  Bingen, 
and  Elizabeth  of  Schonauge,  obtained  in  Ger- 
many (s). 

III.    This   universal   reign  of  ignorance   and  The  scan- 
superstition  was  dexterously,  yet  basely  improved,  Jf^J-Jj£ 
by  the  rulers  of  the  church,  to  fill  their  coffers,  gences  be- 
and  to  drain  the  purses  of  the  deluded  multitude.  f 
And,  indeed,  all  the  various  ranks  and  orders  of 
the  clergy  had    each    their    peculiar   method    of 
fleecing  the  people.      The    bishops,    when    they 
wanted  money  for  their  private  pleasures,  or  for 
the    exigencies  of   the   church,  granted  to  their 
flock  the  power  of   purchasing  the  remission   of 
the  penalties  imposed  upon  transgressors,  by  a  sum 
of  money,  which  was  to  be  applied    to    certain 
religious  purposes,  or,  in  other  words,  they  pub- 
lished indulgences,  which  became  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  opulence  to  the  episcopal  orders,  and 

Seb.  Tengnagl's  Collect.  Vet.  Monumentor.  p.  41.  "  Vos 
licet,  sancti  Domini,  somno  vestro  requiescatis . . .  baud  ta- 
men  crediderim,  spiritus  vestros  deesse  locis  qua?  viventis 
tanta  devotione  construxitis,  et  dilexistis.  Credo  vos  adesse 
cunctis  illic  degentibus,  astare  videlicet  orantibus,  succur- 
rere  laborantibus,  et  vota  singulorum  in  conspectu  divinae 
rnajestatis  promovere." 

(s)  See  Mabillon,  Annales  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  431.  529. 
554. 

G  2 


84  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    enabled  them,    as   is   well   known,  to  form  and 
PAR*  H   execute  the  most  difficult  schemes  for  the  enlarge- 

1  ment  of  their  authority,  and  to  erect  a  multitude 

of  sacred  edifices,  which  augmented  considerably 
the  external  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  church  (f). 
The  abbots  and  monks,  who  were  not  qualified 
to  grant  indulgences,  had  recourse  to  other 
methods  of  enriching  their  convents.  They 
carried  about  the  country  the  carcases  and  relics 
of  the  saints  in  solemn  procession,  and  permitted 
the  multitude  to  behold,  touch,  and  embrace  these 
sacred  and  lucrative  remains  at  certain  fixed 
prices.  The  monastic  orders  gained  often  as 
much  by  this  raree-show,  as  the  bishops  did  by 
their  indulgences  (u). 

And  after-        IV.  When  the  Roman  pontiffs  cast  an  eye  upon 
"oizedT0"  ^e  ™mense  treasures  that  the  inferior  rulers  of 
the  Roman  the  church  were  accumulating  by  the   sale  of  in- 
pontiffs.      diligences,  they  thought  proper  to  limit  the  power 
of  the  bishops  in  remitting  the  penalties  imposed 
upon  transgressors,  and  assumed,  almost  entirely, 
this    profitable  traffic  to  themselves.     In   conse- 
quence of  this  new  measure,  the  court  of  Rome 
became  the  general  magazine  of  indulgences  ;  and 
the  pontiffs,  when  either  the  wants  of  the  church, 
the  emptiness  of  their  coffers,  or  the  daemon  of 
avarice,    prompted   them   to    look    out   for    new 
subsidies,  published   not    only  an   universal,  but 
also  a  complete,   or  what   they  called  a  plenary 

(t]  Stephanus,  Obaziensis  in  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  iv.  p. 
130. — Mabillon  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  535,  &c. 

(«)  We  find  in  the  records  of  this  century  innumerable 
examples  of  this  method  of  extorting  contributions  from  the 
multitude.  See  the  Chronicon.  Centulense  in  Dacherii  Spi- 
cilegio  Veter.  Scriptor.  torn.  ii.  p.  354. — Vita  Sta?.  Romanac, 
ibid.  p.  137. — Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  342. 
64-4-. — Acta  Sanctor.  Mensis  Maii,  torn.  vii.  p.  533.  where  we 
have  an  account  of  a  long  journey  made  by  the  relics  of  St. 
Marculus. — Mabillon,  Acta  Sanctor.  Ord.  Benedict,  torn.  vi. 
p.  519,  520.  and  torn.  ii.  p.  732. 


PART  II, 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  85 

remission  of  all  the  temporal  pains  and  penalties,  CENT. 
which  the  church  had  annexed  to  certain  trans- 
gressions.  They  went  still  farther,  and  not  only 
remitted  the  penalties,  which  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical laws  had  enacted  against  transgressors, 
but  audaciously  usurped  the  authority  which 
belongs  to  God  alone,  and  impiously  pretended  to 
abolish  even  the  punishments  which  are  reserved 
in  a  future  state  for  the  workers  of  iniquity;  a 
step  this,  which  the  bishops,  with  all  their  avarice 
and  presumption,  had  never  once  ventured  to 
take  (w). 

The  pontiffs  first  employed  this  pretended  pre- 
rogative in  promoting  the  holy  war,  and  shed 
abroad  their  indulgences,  though  with  a  certain 
degree  of  moderation,  in  order  to  encourage  the 
European  princes  to  form  new  expeditions  for  the 
conquest  of  Palestine  ;  but,  in  process  -  of  time, 
the  charm  of  indulgences  was  practised  upon 
various  occasions  of  much  less  consequence,  and 
merely  with  a  view  to  filthy  lucre  (#).  Their  in- 
troduction, among  other  things,  destroyed  the 
credit  and  authority  of  the  ancient  canonical  and 
ecclesiastical  discipline  of  penance,  and  occasioned 
the  removal  and  suppression  of  the  penitentials  (z/), 
by  which  the  reins  were  let  loose  to  every  kind  of 
vice.  Such  proceedings  stood  much  in  need  of  a 
plausible  defence,  but  this  was  impossible.  To 
justify  therefore  these  scandalous  measures  of  the 

(to)  Morinus,  De  administratione  sacramenti  poenitentiae, 
lib.  x.  cap.  xx,  xxi,  xxii.  p.  7618. — Rich.  Simon,  Biblioth.  Cri- 
tique, torn.  iii.  cap.  xxxiii.  p.  371. — Mabillon,  Praef.  ad  Acta 
Sanctor.  Saec.  v.  Acta  Sanctor.  Benedict,  p.  5-1?.  not  to  speak 
of  the  protestant  writers,  whom  I  designedly  pass  over. 
^  (x)  Muratori,  Antiq.  Ital.  medii  sevi,  torn.  v.  p.  761. — 
Franc.  Pagi  Breviar.  Rom.  Pontif.  torn.  ii.  p.  60. — Theod. 
Ruinarti  Vita  Urbani  II.  p.  231.  torn.  iii.  Opp.  Posthum. 

flip0  (y)  The  Penitential  was  a  book,  in  which  the  degree 
and  kind  of  penance  that  were  annexed  to  each  crime,  were 
registered. 


86 

CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II, 


The  expo- 
sitors and 
commenta- 
tors of  this 
century. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

pontiffs,  a  most  monstrous  and  absurd  doctrine 
was  now  invented,  which  was  modified  and  em- 
bellished by  St.  Thomas,  in  the  following  century, 
and  which  contained  among  others  the  following 
enormities,  "  That  there  actually  existed  an  im- 
"  mense  treasure  of  merit,  composed  of  the  pious 
"  deeds,  and  virtuous  actions,  which  the  saints 
"  had  performed  beyond  what  was  necessary  for 
"  their  own  salvation  (#),  and  which  were  there- 
"  fore  applicable  to  the  benefit  of  others  ;  that  the 
"  guardian  and  dispenser  of  this  precious  treasure 
"  was  the  Roman  pontiff ;  and  that  of  conse- 
"  quence  he  was  empowered  to  assign  to  such  as 
"  he  thought  proper,  a  portion  of  this  inexhaus- 
"  tible  source  of  merit,  suitable  to  their  respective 
"  guilt,  and  sufficient  to  deliver  them  from  the 
"  punishment  due  to  their  crimes."  It  is  a  most 
deplorable  mark  of  the  power  of  superstition,  that 
a  doctrine,  so  absurd  in  its  nature,  and  so  perni- 
cious in  its  effects,  should  yet  be  retained  and  de- 
fended in  the  church  of  Rome  (a). 

V.  Nothing  was  more  common  in  this  century 
than  expositors  and  interpreters  of  the  sacred 
writings  ;  but  nothing  was  so  rare,  as  to  find,  in 
that  class  of  authors,  the  qualifications  that  are 
essentially  required  in  a  good  commentator.  Few 
of  these  expositors  were  attentive  to  search  after 


(z)  These  works  are  known  by  the  name  of  Works  of 
Supererogation. 

lUp23  (a)  For  a  satisfactory  and  ample  account  of  the  enor- 
moui  doctrine  of  indulgences,  see  a  very  learned  and  judi- 
cious work,  entitled  Lettres  sur  les  Jubiles,  published  in  the 
year  1751,  in  three  volumes  8vo.  by  the  reverend  Mr.  Chais, 
minister  of  the  French  church  in  the  Hague,  on  occasion  of 
the  universal  Jubilee  celebrated  at  Rome  the  preceding 
year,  by  the  order  of  Benedict  XIV.  In  the  2d  volume  of 
this  excellent  work,  which  we  shall  have  frequent  occasion 
to  consult  in  the  course  of  this  history,  there  is  a  clear  ac- 
count and  a  satisfactory  refutation  of  the  doctrine  in  ques- 
tion, as  also  the  history  of  that  monstrous  practice  from  its 
origin  to  the  present  times. 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  87 

the  true  signification  of  the  words  employed  by  CENT. 
the  sacred  writers,  or  to  investigate  the  precise 
sense  in  which  they  were  used ;  and  these  few 
were  destitute  of  the  succours  which  such  re- 
searches demand.  The  Greek  and  Latin  com- 
mentators, blinded  by  their  enthusiastic  love  of 
antiquity,  and  their  implicit  veneration  for  the 
doctors  of  the  early  ages  of  the  church,  drew  from 
their  writings,  without  discernment  or  choice,  a 
heap  of  passages,  which  they  were  pleased  to 
consider  as  illustrations  of  the  holy  scriptures. 
Such  were  the  commentaries  of  Euthymius  Ziga- 
benus,  an  eminent  expositor  among  the  Greeks, 
upon  the  Psalms,  Gospels,  and  Epistles;  though 
it  must,  at  the  same  time,  be  acknowledged,  that 
this  writer  follows,  in  some  places,  the  dictates  of 
his  own  judgment,  and  gives,  upon  certain  occa- 
sions, proofs  of  penetration  and  genius.  Among 
the  Latins,  we  might  give  several  examples  of  the 
injudicious  manner  of  expounding  the  divine  word 
that  prevailed  in  this  century,  such  as  the  Lucu- 
brations of  Peter  Lombard,  Gilbert  de  la  Poree, 
and  the  famous  Abelard,  upon  the  Psalms  of 
David,  and  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  Nor  do 
those  commentators  among  the  Latins,  who  ex- 
pounded the  whole  of  the  sacred  writings,  and 
who  are  placed  at  the  head  of  the  expositors  of 
this  age,  such  as  Gilbert,  bishop  of  London,  sur- 
named  the  Universal,  on  account  of  the  vast 
extent  of  his  erudition  (&)>  and  Hervey,  a  most 
studious  Benedictine  monk  (c),  deserve  a  higher 
place  in  our  esteem,  than  the  authors  already 
mentioned.  The  writers  that  merit  the  prefer- 
ence among  the  Latins  are  Rupert  of  Duytz,  and 

(b)  For  an  account  of  this  prelate,  see  Le  Boeuf,  Me 
moires  concernant  1'Histoire  d'Auxerre,  torn.  ii.  p.  486. 

(c)  An  ample  account  of  this  learned  Benedictine  is  to 
be  found  in  Gabr.  Liron,  Singularites  Historiques  et  Lit- 
teraires,  torn.  iii.  p.  29. — See  also  Mabillon,  Annales  Bene- 
dict, torn,  vi,  p.  4-77.  719. 


88  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    Anselm  of  Laon  ;  the  former  of  whom  expounded 
1'      several   books  of  scripture,  and  the  latter  com- 

l.  A 

„  posed,  or  rather  compiled,  a  glossary  upon  the 
sacred  writings.  As  to  those  doctors  who  were 
not  carried  away  by  an  enthusiastical  veneration 
for  the  ancients,  who  had  courage  enough  to  try 
their  own  talents,  and  to  follow  the  dictates  of 
their  own  sagacity,  they  were  chargeable  with 
defects  of  another  kind  ;  for,  disregarding  and 
overlooking  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  divine 
truth,  they  were  perpetually  bent  on  the  search  of 
all  sorts  of  mysteries  in  the  sacred  writings,  and 
were  constantly  on  the  scent  after  some  hidden 
meaning  in  the  plainest  expressions  of  Scripture. 
The  people  called  Mystics  excelled  peculiarly  in 
this  manner  of  expounding  ;  and  forced,  by  their 
violent  explications,  the  word  of  God  into  a  con- 
formity with  their  visionary  doctrines,  their  en- 
thusiastic feelings,  and  the  system  of  discipline 
which  they  had  drawn  from  the  excursions  of  their 
irregular  fancies.  Nor  were  the  commentators, 
who  pretended  to  logic  and  philosophy,  and  who, 
in  effect,  had  applied  themselves  to  these  profound 
sciences,  free  from  the  contagion  of  mysticism  in 
their  explications  of  scripture.  They  followed, 
on  the  contrary,  the  example  of  these  fanatics, 
as  may  be  seen  by  Hugh  of  St.  Victor's  Allego- 
rical Exposition  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
by  the  Mystical  Ark  of  Richard  of  St.  Victor, 
and  by  the  Mystical  Commentaries  of  Guibert, 
abbot  of  Nogent,  on  Obadiah,  Hosea,  and 
Amos  c()  ;  not  to  mention  several  other  writers, 


who  seem  to  have  been  animated   by  the    same 
spirit. 

The  manner      VI.    The  most  eminent  teachers  of  theology 
resided  at   Paris,  which  city  was,  from  this  time 


that  now     forward,  frequented  by  students  of  divinity  from 

(d)  The  Prologus  in  Abdiam  has  been  published  by  Ma- 
billon,  in  his  Annales  Benedict,  torn,  vi.  p.  637. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  89 

all  parts  of  Europe,  who  resorted  thither  in  crowds,  CENT. 
to  receive  instruction  from  these  celebrated  masters. 
The  French  divines  were  divided  into  different 
sects.  The  first  of  these  sects,  who  were  distin- 
guished by  the  title  of  The  Ancient  Theologists, 
explained  the  doctrines  of  religion,  in  a  plain  and 
simple  manner,  by  passages  drawn  from  the  holy 
scriptures,  from  the  decrees  of  councils,  and  the 
writings  of  the  ancient  doctors,  and  very  rarely 
made  use  of  the  succours  of  reason  or  philosophy 
in  their  theological  lectures.  In  this  class  we 
place  St.  Bernard,  Peter,  surnamed  the  Chanter, 
Walter  of  St.  Victor,  and  other  doctors,  who  de- 
clared an  open  and  bitter  war  against  the  philo- 
sophical divines.  The  doctors,  which  were  after- 
wards known  by  the  name  of  Positivi  and  Sen- 
tentiarii,  were  not,  in  all  respects,  different  from 
these  now  mentioned.  Imitating  the  examples  of 
Anselm,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Lanfranc, 
Hildebert,  and  other  doctors  of  the  preceding 
century,  they  taught  and  confirmed  their  system 
of  theology,  principally  by  collecting  the  deci- 
sions of  the  inspired  writers,  and  the  opinions  of 
the  ancients.  At  the  same  time  they  were  far 
from  rejecting  the  succours  of  reason,  and  the 
discussions  of  philosophy,  to  which  they  more 
especially  had  recourse,  when  difficulties  were  to 
be  solved,  and  adversaries  to  be  refuted,  but,  in 
the  application  of  which,  all  did  not  discover  the 
same  degree  of  moderation  and  prudence.  Hugh 
of  St.  Victor  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first 
writer  of  this  century,  who  taught  in  this  manner 
the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  digested  into  a 
regular  system.  His  example,  however,  was  fol- 
lowed by  many ;  but  none  acquired  such  a  shining 
reputation  by  his  labours,  in  this  branch  of  sacred 
erudition,  as  Peter,  bishop  of  Paris,  surnamed 
Lombard,  from  the  country  which  gave  him  birth. 
The  Four  Books  of  Sentences  of  this  eminent 


90  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    prelate,    which   appeared  in  the  year  1172 


' 


v  ART 


T'  1  1  were  not  onty  receiyed  with  universal  applause, 
_  but  acquired  also  such  a  high  degree  of  authority, 
as  induced  the  most  learned  doctors  in  all  places, 
to  employ  their  labours  in  illustrating  and  ex- 
pounding them.  Scarcely  was  there  any  divine 
of  note  that  did  not  undertake  this  popular  task, 
except  Henry  of  Gendt,  and  a  few  others  (/)  ;  so 
that  Lombard,  who  was  commonly  called  Master 
of  the  Sentences,  on  account  of  the  famous  work 
now  mentioned,  became  truly  a  classic  author  in 
divinity  («•). 

Thescho-        VII.    The   followers  of   Lombard,   who  were 

periySsopr°"  ca^e(^  Sententiarii,  though  their  manner  of  teach- 

caiied.        ing  was  defective  in  some  respects,  and  not  alto- 

gether exempt   from  vain  and   trivial   questions, 

were  always  attentive  to  avoid  entering  too  far 

into  the  subtilties  of  the  Dialecticians,   nor  did 

they  presumptuously  attempt  submitting  the  divine 

truths  of  the  gospel  to  the  uncertain  and  obscure 


(e)  Erpoldi  Lindenbrogii  ScriptoresSeptentrionales,p.250. 

(/)  A  list  of  the  commentators  who  laboured  in  explain- 
ing the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard,  is  given  by  Anton.  Pos- 
sevinus,  in  his  Biblioth.  Selecta,  torn.  i.  lib.  iii.  cap.  xiv.  p.  242. 

Ijgg13  (g)  The  Book  of  Sentences,  which  rendered  the 
name  of  Peter  Lombard  so  illustrious,  was  a  compilation  of 
sentences  and  passages  drawn  from  the  fathers,  whose  mani- 
fold contradictions  this  eminent  prelate  endeavoured  to  re- 
concile. His  work  may  be  considered  as  a  complete  body 
of  divinity.  It  consists  of  Four  Books,  each  of  which  is  sub- 
divided into  various  chapters  and  sections.  In  the  first  he 
treats  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  Divine  Attributes ;  in  the  se- 
cond, of  the  Creation  in  general,  of  the  Origin  of  Angels, 
the  Formation  and  Fall  of  Man,  of  Grace  and  Free  Will,  of 
Original  Sin  and  Actual  Transgression  ;  in  the  third,  of  the 
Incarnation,  and  Perfections  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  Faith,  Hope, 
and  Charity,  of  the  Gifts  of  the  Spirit,  and  the  Command- 
ments of  God.  The  Sacraments,  the  Resurrection,  the  Last 
Judgment,  and  the  State  of  the  Righteous  in  Heaven,  are 
the  subjects  treated  in  the  fourth  and  last  book  of  this  fa- 
mous work,  which  was  the  wonder  of  the  twelfth  century, 
and  is  little  more  than  an  object  or  contempt  in  ours. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  91 

principles  of  a  refined  and  intricate  logic,  which    CENT 
was  rather  founded  on  the  excursions  of  fancy 
than  on  the  nature  of  things.     They  had  for  con- 
temporaries  another  set  of  theologists,  who  were 
far  from  imitating  their  moderation  and  prudence 
in   this   respect ;    a  set  of  subtile    doctors,   who 
taught  the  plain  and  simple  truths  of  Christianity, 
in  the  obscure  terms,  and  with  the  perplexing  di- 
stinctions, used  by  the  Dialecticians,  and  explained, 
or  rather  darkened  with  their  unintelligible  jargon, 
the  sublime  precepts  of  the  wisdom  that  is  from 
above.     This  method  of  teaching  theology,  which 
was  afterwards  called  the  scholastic  system,  because 
it  was  in  general  use  in  the  schools,  had  for  its 
author,  Peter  Abelard,  a  man  of  the  most  subtile 
genius,  whose  public  lectures  in  philosophy  and 
divinity  had  raised  him  to  the  highest  summit  of 
literary  renown,  and  who  was  successively  canon 
of  Paris,  and  monk  and  abbot  of  Ruys  (&).     The 
fame  he  acquired   by  this  new  method  engaged 
many  ambitious  divines  to  adopt  it ;    and,  in  a 
short  space  of  time,  the  followers  of  Abelard  mul- 
tiplied prodigiously,  not  only  in  France,  but  also 
in  England  and  Italy.     Thus  was  the  pure  and 
peaceable  wisdom  of  the  gospel  perverted  into  a 
science  of  mere  sophistry  and  chicane ;  for  these 
subtile  doctors  never  explained  or  illustrated  any 
subject,  but,  on  the  contrary,  darkened  and  dis- 
figured the   plainest   expressions,    and   the  most 
evident    truths,    by   their   laboured   and    useless 
distinctions,  fatigued  both  themselves  and  others 
with    unintelligible     solutions    of    abstruse    and 
frivolous  questions,    and  through  a  rage  for  dis- 
puting,   maintained   with   equal   vehemence   and 


(h)  Abelard  acknowledges  this  himself,  Epist.  i.  cap.  ix. 
p.  '20.  Oper. — See  also  Launois,  De  Scholis  Caroli  M.  p.  67. 
cap.  lix.  torn.  iv.  opp.  part  Iv 


92  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    ardour  the  opposite  sides  of  the  most  serious  and 
xn;     momentous  questions  (j). 

VIII.  From  this  period  therefore,  an  important 
The  Chris-  distinction  was  made  between  the  Christian  doctors, 
di/.dtdlnto  w^°  were  divided  into  two  classes.  In  the  first 
two  classes,  class  were  placed  those,  who  were  called  by  the 
"  vai*i°us  names  of  biblici,  i.  e.  bible-doctors,  dog- 
matici  and  positivi,  i.  e.  didactic  divines,  and  also 
veteres,  or  ancients ;  and  in  the  second  were 
ranged  the  scholastics,  who  were  also  distinguished 
by  the  titles  of  Sententiarii,  after  the  Master  of 
the  Sentences,  and  Novi,  to  express  their  recent 
origin.  The  former  expounded,  though  in  a 
wretched  manner,  the  sacred  writings  in  their 
public  schools,  illustrated  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, without  deriving  any  succours  from  reason 
or  philosophy,  and  confirmed  their  opinions  by  the 
united  testimonies  of  scripture  and  tradition. 
The  latter  expounded,  instead  of  the  Bible,  the 
famous  Book  of  Sentences ;  reduced,  under  the 
province  of  their  subtile  philosophy,  whatever  the 
gospel  proposed  as  an  object  of  faith,  or  a  rule 
of  practice ;  and  perplexed  and  obscured  its 
divine  doctrines  and  precepts  by  a  multitude  of 
vain  questions  and  idle  speculations  (&).  The 
method  of  the  scholastics  exhibited  a  pompous 
aspect  of  learning,  and  these  subtile  doctors  seemed 
to  surpass  their  adversaries  in  sagacity  and  genius ; 
hence  they  excited  the  admiration  of  the  studious 
youth,  who  flocked  to  their  schools  in  multitudes, 
while  the  biblici  or  doctors  of  the  sacred  page, 
as  they  were  also  called,  had  the  mortification 
to  see  their  auditories  unfrequented,  and  almost 


(i)  Caes.  Egasse  de  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii. 
p.  201.  583. — Anton.  Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i.  p. 
58.  —  Launoius,  De  varia  Aristotelis  fortuna  in  Acad.  Paris, 
cap.  iii.  p.  187.  Edit.  Elswichii  Vitem.  1720,  in  8vo. 

(£)  See  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  657. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  93 

deserted  (/).     The  scholastic  theology  continued    CENT. 
in  high  repute  in  all  the  European  colleges  until 
the  time  of  Luther. 


IX.  It  must,  however,  be  observed,  that  these  The 
metaphysical  divines  had  many  difficulties  to 
encounter,  and  much  opposition  to  overcome,  from  differ- 
before  they  could  obtain  that  boundless  authority  entquarters' 
in  the  European  schools,  which  they  enjoyed  so 
long.  They  were  attacked  from  different  quarters ; 
on  the  one  hand,  by  the  ancient  divines,  or  bible 
doctors ;  on  the  other,  by  the  mystics,  who  con- 
sidered true  wisdom  and  knowledge  as  unattain- 
able by  study  or  reasoning,  and  as  the  fruit  of 
mere  contemplation,  inward  feeling,  and  a  pas- 
sive acquiescence  in  divine  influences.  Thus 
that  ancient  conflict  between  faith  and  reason, 
that  had  formerly  divided  the  Latin  doctors, 
and  had  been  for  many  years  hushed  in  silence, 
was  now  unhappily  revived,  and  produced  every 
where  new  tumults  and  dissensions.  The  patrons 
and  defenders  of  the  ancient  theology,  who  attacked 

(/)  The  Book  of  Sentences  seemed  to  be  at  this  time  in 
much  greater  repute  than  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  the 
compilations  of  Peter  Lombard  were  preferred  to  the  doc- 
trines and  precepts  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  appears  evident 
from  the  following  remarkable  passage  in  Roger  Bacon's 
Opp.  Maj.  ad  Clementem  IV.  Pontif.  Rom.  published  in 
1733  at  London,  by  Sam.  Jebb,  from  the  original  MSS. 
"  Baccalaureus  qui  legit  textum  (scripturae)  succumbit  lectori 
sententiarum,  et  ubique  in  omnibus  honoratur  et  prefertur : 
nam  ille,  qui  legit  sententias  habet,  principalemhoram  legendi 
secundum  suam  voluntatem,  habet  et  socium  et  cameram 
apud  religiosos :  sed  qui  leget  Bibliam,  caret  his,  et  mendicat 
horam  legendi  secundum  quod  placet  lectori  sententiarum: 
et  qui  legit  summas,  disputat  ubique  et  pro  magistro  habetur, 
reliquus  qui  textum  legit,  non  potest  disputare,  sicut  fuit  hoc 
anno  Bononiae,  et  in  multis  aliis  locis,  quod  est  absurdum : 
manifestum  est  igitur,  quod  textus  illius  facultatis  (sc.  Theo- 
logies) subjicitur  uni  s.umma;  magistrali."  Such  was  now 
the  authority  of  the  scholastic  theology,  as  appears  from  the 
words  of  Bacon,  who  lived  in  the  following  age,  and  in  whose 
writings  there  are  many  things  highly  worthy  of  the  atten- 
tion of  the  curious. 


94  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  schoolmen,  were  Guibert,  abbot  of  Nogent  ( 


PA*T' 


II.  Peter>  abbot  of  Moustier-la-Celle  (n),  Peter  the 
Chanter  (o),  and  principally  Walter  of  St.  Victor(p). 
The  Mystics  also  sent  forth  into  the  field  of 
controversy  upon  this  occasion,  their  ablest  and 
most  violent  champions,  such  as  Joachim  abbot 
of  Flori,  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  who  loaded 
with  invectives  the  scholastic  divines,  and  more 
especially  Lombard,  though  he  was,  undoubtedly, 
the  most  candid  and  modest  doctor  of  that  subtile 
tribe.  These  dissensions  and  contests,  whose 
deplorable  effects  augmented  from  day  to  day, 
engaged  Alexander  III.  who  was  pontiff  at  this 
time,  to  interpose  his  authority,  in  order  to  restore 
tranquillity  and  concord  in  the  church.  For 
this  purpose  he  convoked  a  solemn  and  numerous 
assembly  of  the  clergy  in  the  year  1164  (ry),  in 
which  the  licentious  rage  of  disputing  about 
religious  matters  was  condemned  ;  and  another 
in  the  year  1179?  in  which  some  particular 
errors  of  Peter  Lombard  were  pointed  out  and 
censured  (/*). 

X.  But  of  all  the  adversaries  that  assailed  the 
nard.  scholastic  divines  in  this  century,  none  was  so 
formidable  as  the  famous  St.  Bernard,  whose 
zeal  was  ardent  beyond  all  expression,  and  whose 
influence  and  authority  were  equal  to  his  zeal. 
And,  accordingly,  we  find  this  illustrious  abbot 

(m}  In  his  Tropologia  in  Oseam,  p.  203.  Opp. 

(»)  Opuscul.  p.  277.  396.  edit.  Benedict. 

(o)  In  his  Verbum  Abbreviat.  cap.  iii.  p.  6,  7.  published 
at  Mons  in  the  year  1639,  in  4to.  by  George  Galopin. 

(p)  In  his  Libri  iv.  contra  Quatuor  Franciae  Labyrinthos 
et  novos  Haereticos.  He  called  Abelard,  Gilbert  de  la  Poree, 
Lombard,  and  Peter  of  Poitiers,  who  were  the  principal  scho- 
lastic divines  of  this  century,  the  four  Labyrinths  of  France. 
For  an  account  of  this  work,  which  is  yet  in  manuscript,  see 
Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  619.  659. 

(</)  Ant.  Pagi  Critic,  in  Baronium,  torn.  iv.  ad  A.  1164. 
p.  614,  615. 

(r)  Matth.  Paris.  Histor.  Major,  p.  115.  —  Boulay,  Histor. 
Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  402. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  95 

combating    the    Dialecticians,    not    only   in    his    CENT. 

XII. 
PART  II. 


writings  and   his  conversation,    but    also   by  his 


deeds ;  arming  against  them  synods  and  councils, 
the  decrees  of  the  church,  and  the  laws  of  the 
state.  The  renowned  Abelard,  who  was  as 
much  superior  to  St.  Bernard  in  sagacity  and 
erudition,  as  he  was  his  inferior  in  credit  and 
authority,  was  one  of  the  first  who  felt,  by  a 
bitter  experience,  the  aversion  of  the  lordly  abbot 
to  the  scholastic  doctors;  for,  in  the  year  1121, 
he  was  called  before  the  council  of  Soissons,  and 
before  that  of  Sens  in  the  year  1140,  in  both  of 
which  assemblies  he  was  accused  by  St.  Bernard 
of  the  most  pernicious  errors,  and  was  finally 
condemned  as  an  egregious  heretic  (s).  The 
charge  brought  against  this  subtile  and  learned 
monk  was,  that  he  had  notoriously  corrupted  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  blasphemed  against  the 
majesty  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  entertained  unworthy 
and  false  conceptions  of  the  person  and  offices  of 
Christ,  and  the  union  of  the  two  natures  in  him, 
denied  the  necessity  of  the  divine  grace  to  render 
us  virtuous,  and,  in  a  word,  that  his  doctrines 
struck  at  the  fundamental  principles  of  all  re- 
ligion. It  must  be  confessed  by  those  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Abelard,  that  he 
expressed  himself  in  a  very  singular  and  incon- 
gruous manner  upon  several  points  of  theology  (f) ; 
and  this  indeed  is  one  of  the  inconveniences  to 

(s)  See  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Abelard. — Ger- 
vais,  Vie  d' Abelard  et  d'Heloise. — Mabillon,  Annal.  Bene- 
dict, torn.  vi.  p.  63.  84.  324.  395.— Martene,  Thesaur.  Anec- 
dotor.  torn.  v.  p.  1139. 

^g°  (t)  He  affirmed,  for  example,  among  other  things 
equally  unintelligible  and  extravagant,  that  the  names, 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  were  improper  terms,  and 
were  only  used  to  express  the  fulness  of  the  sovereign  good ; 
that  the  Father  was  the  plenitude  of  power,  the  Son  a  certain 
power,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  no  power  at  all;  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  the  soul  of  the  world,  with  other  crude  fancies  of 
a  like  nature,  mingled,  however,  with  bold  truths. 


96  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    which  subtile   refinements  upon   mysterious  doc- 
PART  ii. trmes  frequently  lead.     But  it  is  certain,  on  the 

other  hand,  that  St.  Bernard,  who  had  much  more 

genius  than  logic,  misunderstood  some  of  the 
opinions  of  Abelard,  and  wilfully  perverted  others. 
For  the  zeal  of  this  good  abbot  too  rarely  per- 
mitted him  to  consult  in  his  decisions  the  dictates 
of  impartial  equity ;  and  hence  it  was,  that  he 
almost  always  applauded  beyond  measure,  and 
censured  without  mercy  (u). 

XI.  Abelard  was  not  the  only  scholastic  divine 
who  paid  dear  for  his  metaphysical  refinement 
upon  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  whose  logic 
exposed  him  to  the  unrelenting  fury  of  persecu- 
tion ;  Gilbert  de  la  Poree,  bishop  of  Poitiers, 
who  had  taught  theology  and  philosophy  at 
Paris,  and  in  other  places,  with  the  highest  ap- 
plause, met  with  the  same  fate.  Unfortunately 
for  him,  Arnold  and  Calo,  two  of  his  archdea- 
cons, who  had  been  educated  in  the  principles  of 
the  ancient  theology,  heard  him  one  day  disput- 
ing, with  more  subtilty  than  was  meet,  concern- 
ing the  divine  nature.  Alarmed  at  the  novelty 
of  his  doctrine,  they  brought  a  charge  of  blas- 
phemy against  him  before  Pope  Eugenius  III. 
who  was  at  that  time  in  France ;  and,  to  give 
weight  to  their  accusation,  they  gained  over  St. 
Bernard,  and  engaged  him  in  their  cause.  This 
zealous  abbot  treated  the  matter  with  his  usual 

(M)  See  Gervais,  Vie  d' Abelard,  torn.  ii.  p.  162. — Le 
Clerc,  Biblioth.  Ancienne  et  Moderne,  torn.  ix.  p.  352.-— 
Dionys.  Petav.  Dogmata  Theolog.  torn.  i.  lib.  v.  cap.  vi.  p. 
217-  as  also  the  works  of  Bernard,  passim.  Abelard,  who, 
notwithstanding  all  his  crude  notions,  was  a  man  of  true 
genius,  was  undoubtedly  worthy  of  a  better  fate  than  that 
which  fell  to  his  lot,  and  of  a  more  enlightened  age  than  that 
in  which  he  lived.  After  passing  through  the  furnace  of 
persecution,  and  having  suffered  afflictions  of  various  kinds, 
of  which  he  has  transmitted  the  history  to  posterity,  he 
retired  to  the  monastery  of  Clugni,  where  he  ended  his  days 
in  the  year  1142. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  97 

vehemence,  and  opposed  Gilbert  with  the  utmost  CENT* 
severity  and  bitterness,  first  in  the  council  of  XIL 
Paris,  A.  D.  1147,  and  afterwards  in  that  which  PART  "' 
was  assembled  at  Rheims  the  year  following. 
In  this  latter  council  the  accused  bishop,  in  order 
to  put  an  end  to  the  dispute,  offered  to  submit 
his  opinions  to  the  judgment  of  the  assembly, 
and  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  by  whom  they  were 
condemned.  The  errors  attributed  to  Gilbert 
were  the  fruits  of  an  excessive  subtilty,  and  of  an 
extravagant  passion  for  reducing  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  under  the  empire  of  metaphysic  and 
dialectic.  He  distinguished  the  divine  essence 
from  the  Deity,  the  properties  of  the  three  divine 
persons  from  the  persons  themselves,  not  in  reality, 
but  by  abstraction,  in  statu  rationis,  as  the  meta- 
physicians speak;  and  in  consequence  of  these 
distinctions,  he  denied  the  incarnation  of  the 
divine  nature.  To  these  he  added  other  opinions, 
derived  from  the  same  source,  which  were  rather 
vain,  fanciful,  and  adapted  to  excite  surprise  by 
their  novelty,  than  glaringly  false,  or  really  per- 
nicious. These  refined  notions  were  far  above  the 
comprehension  of  good  St.  Bernard,  who  was  by 
no  means  accustomed  to  such  profound  disquisi- 
tions, to  such  intricate  researches  (r^). 

XII.   The    important    science    of    morals  was  The  gtate  of 
not  now  in  a  very  flourishing   state,    as  may  be  momi  and 
easily  imagined  when  we  consider  the  genius  and 
spirit  of  that  philosophy,  which,  in  this  century, 
reduced  all  the  other  sciences  under  its  dominion, 
and  of  which  we  have   given  some   account   in 
the  preceding  sections.      The  only  moral  writer 

(w)  See  Du  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  223. 
232.— Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedictin.  torn.  vi.  p.  34«3.  4-15.4-33. 
— Gallia  Christiana  Benedictin.  torn.  ii.  p.  1175. — Matth. 
Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  56. — Petavii  Dogmata  Theologica, 
torn.  i.  lib.  i.  cap.  viii. — Longueval,  Histoire  de  1'Eglise  Gal- 
licane,  torn.  ix.  p.  147. 

VOL.    III.  II 


98  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    among  the  Greeks,  who  is  worthy  of  mention,  is 


PART  ii  *   surnamed  the  Solitary,  whose  book,  in- 

-  titled  Dioptra,  which  consists  in  a  dialogue  be- 
tween the  body  and  the  soul,  is  composed  with 
judgment  and  elegance,  and  contains  many 
things  proper  to  nourish  pious  and  virtuous  sen- 
timents. 

The  Latin  moralists  of  this  age  may  be  divided 
into  two  classes,  the  scholastics  and  mystics.  The 
former  discoursed  about  virtue,  as  they  did  about 
truth,  in  the  most  unfeeling  jargon,  and  generally 
subjoined  their  arid  system  of  morals  to  what 
they  called  their  didactic  theology.  The  latter 
treated  the  duties  of  morality  in  a  quite  different 
manner  ;  their  language  was  tender,  persuasive, 
and  affecting,  and  their  sentiments  often  beautiful 
and  sublime  ;  but  they  taught  in  a  confused  and 
irregular  manner,  without  method  or  precision, 
and  frequently  mixed  the  dross  of  Platonism  with 
the  pure  treasures  of  celestial  truth. 

We  might  also  place  in  the  class  of  moral 
writers  the  greatest  part  of  the  commentators  and 
expositors  of  this  century,  who,  laying  aside  all 
attention  to  the  signification  of  the  words  used 
by  the  sacred  writers,  and  scarcely  ever  attempt- 
ing to  illustrate  the  truths  they  reveal,  or  the 
events  which  they  relate,  turned,  by  forced  and 
allegorical  explications,  every  passage  of  scripture 
to  practical  uses,  and  drew  lessons  of  morality 
from  every  quarter.  We  could  produce  many 
instances  of  this  way  of  commenting  besides 
Guibert's  Moral  Observations  on  the  Book  of  Job, 
the  Prophecy  of  Amos,  and  the  Lamentations  of 
Jeremiah. 

Polemic  XIII.  Both  Greeks  and  Latins  were  seized  with 
that  enthusiastic  passion  for  dialectic  researches, 
that  raged  in  this  century,  and  were  thereby  ren- 
dered extremely  fond  of  captious  questions  and 
theological  contests,  while,  at  the  same  time,  the 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

love  of  controversy  seduced  them  from  the  paths    CENT. 
that  lead  to  truth,   and  involved  them  in  laby-  PA^""IU 

rinths  of  uncertainty  and  error.     The  discovery 

of  truth  was  not,   indeed,   the  great  object  they 
had  in  view ;  their  principal  design  was  to  puzzle 
and  embarrass  their  adversaries,   and  overwhelm 
them  with  an  enormous  heap  of  fine-spun  distinc- 
tions,   an    impetuous   torrent   of  words  without 
meaning,  a  long  list  of  formidable  authorities,  and 
a  specious  train  of  fallacious  consequences,  embel- 
lished with   railings  and   invectives.     The  prin- 
cipal  polemic   writers   among    the  Greeks   were 
Constantinus     Harmenopulus,     and     Euthymius 
Zigabenus.     The  former  published  a  short  treatise 
De    Sectis    Haereticorum,    i.  e.    concerning    the 
Heretical    Sects.      The   latter,    in   a   long    and 
laboured  work,  entitled  Panoplia,  attacked  all  the 
various    heresies    and    errors    that    troubled    the 
church ;  but,  not  to  mention  the  extreme  levity 
and  credulity  of  this  writer,   his  manner  of  dis 
puting  was  highly  defective,  and  all  his  arguments, 
according  to  the  wretched  method  that  now  pre- 
vailed, were  drawn  from  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
doctors,    whose   authority  supplied   the   place  of 
evidence.     Both  these  authors  were  sharply  cen- 
sured in  a  satirical  poem  composed   by  Zonaras. 
The  Latin  writers  were  also  employed  in  various 
branches  of  religious  controversy.      Honorius  of 
Autun  wrote  against  certain  heresies  ;  and  Abelard 
combated  them  all.     The  Jews,  whose  credit  was 
now  entirely  sunk,  and  whose  circumstances  were 
miserable  in  every  respect,  were  refuted  by  Gilbert 
de  Castilione,  Odo,  Petrus  Alfonsus,  Rupert  of 
Duytz,    Petrus    Mauritius,     Richardus     5.     Sto. 
Victore,  and  Petrus  Blesensis,  according  to  the 
logic  of  the  times,  and  Euthymius,  with  several 
other  divines,  directed  their  polemic  force  against 
the  Saracens. 

TJ     £/ 


100  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XIV.    The  contest  between  the  Greeks   and 
JL      Latins,   the  subject  of  which  has   been   already 
mentioned,   was  still  carried  on  by  both  parties 


PART  II. 


the  con-    with  the  greatest  obstinacy  and  vehemence.     The 
the    Grecian  champions  were  Euthymius,  Nicetas,  and 


tweenb 


and  others  of  less  renown,    while  the  cause  of  the 
Latins   was   vigorously  maintained    by   Anselm, 
bishop  of  Havelsberg,  and  Hugo  Etherianus,  who 
distinguished  themselves  eminently  by  their  eru- 
dition  in   this   famous   controversy  (JT).      Many 
attempts  were  made,  both  at  Rome  and  Constan- 
tinople, to  reconcile  these  differences,  and  to  heal 
these  fatal  divisions  ;  and  this  union  was  solicited, 
in  a  particular  manner,  by  the  emperors  in  the 
Comnene   family,  who  expected   to   draw  much 
advantage  from  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  the 
Latins,  towards  the  support  of  the  Grecian  em- 
pire, which  was  at  this  time  in  a  declining,  nay, 
almost   in   a   desperate   condition.      But   as   the 
Latins  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  a  despotic  supre- 
macy over  the  Greek  church,  and  as,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Grecian  bishops  could  by  no  means  be 
induced   to  yield   an   implicit   obedience  to   the 
Roman  pontiff,  or  to  condemn  the  measures  and 
proceedings  of  their  ancestors,   the  negotiations 
undertaken  for  the  restoration  of  peace,  widened 
the  breach  instead  of  healing  it,  and  the  terms 
proposed   on   both   sides,    but   especially  by   the 
Latins,  exasperated,  instead  of  calming,  the  resent- 
ments and  animosities  of  the  contending  parties. 
Matters  of       XV.     Many  controversies  of  inferior  moment 

less  moment  .     -,     J  i         ^>i         i  i 

controver-   were  carried  on  among   the  Greeks,   who   were 
ted  among  extremely  fond  of  disputing,    and  were  scarcely 

the  Greeks.  .  ,«'  ,    .  i«  .-  ^TT 

ever  without  debates  upon  religious  matters.  We 
shall  not  enter  into  a  circumstantial  narration  of 
these  theological  contests,  which  are  more  proper 


(<r)  Sec  Leo  Allatius,  De  perpetua  consensione  Ecclesiae 
Oriental,  et  Occident,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xi.  p.  644. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  101 


to  fatigue  than  to  amuse  or  instruct,  but  shall 
confine  ourselves  to  a  brief  mention  of  those  PABTn. 
which  made  the  greatest  noise  in  the  empire.  —  - 
Under  the  reign  of  Emanuel  Comnenus,  whose 
extensive  learning  was  accompanied  with  an  ex- 
cessive curiosity,  several  theological  controversies 
were  carried  on,  in  which  he  himself  bore  a  prin- 
cipal part,  and  which  fomented  such  discords  and 
animosities  among  a  people  already  exhausted 
and  dejected  by  intestine  tumults,  as  threatened 
their  destruction.  The  first  question  that  exer- 
cised the  metaphysical  talent  of  this  over-curious 
emperor  and  his  subtile  doctors  was  this  :  In  what 
sense  it  was  or  might  be  affirmed,  that  an  incar- 
nate God  was  at  the  same  time  the  offerer  and  the 
oblation?  When  this  knotty  question  had  been 
long  debated,  and  the  emperor  had  maintained,  for 
a  considerable  time,  the  solution  of  it  that  was  con- 
trary to  the  opinion  generally  received,  he  yielded 
at  length,  and  embraced  the  popular  notion  of 
that  unintelligible  subject.  The  consequence  of 
this  step  was,  that  many  men  of  eminent  abilities 
and  great  credit,  who  had  differed  from  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church  upon  this  article,  were  deprived 
of  their  honours  and  employments  (#).  What 
the  emperor's  opinion  of  this  matter  was,  we  find 
no  where  related  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  and 
we  are  equally  ignorant  of  the  sentiments  adopted 
by  the  church  in  relation  to  this  question.  It  is 
highly  probable  that  the  emperor,  followed  by 
certain  learned  doctors,  differed  from  the  opinions 
generally  received  among  the  Greeks  concerning 
the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  oblation  or  sacrifice  of 
Christ  in  that  holy  ordinance. 

XVI.  Some  years  after  this,  a  still  more  warm  The  Greeks 
contest  arose  concerning  the  sense  of  those  words  J*PV*e  ct™- 
of  Christ,  John  xiv.  28.  "  For  my  Father  is  greater  wo™"?/  'e 

Christ, 

(y)  Nicetas  Choniates,  Annal.  Lib.  vii.  sect.  v.  p.  112.  ed. 
Venetse. 


102  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    than  I,"  and  divided  the  Greeks  into  the  most 
"   '      bitter  and  deplorable  factions.     To  the  ancient 

1  A  K  1     II*  ^  JL 

-  explications  of  that  important  passage  new  illus- 
trations were  now  added  ;  and  the  emperor  him- 
self, who,  from  an  indifferent  prince,  was  become 
a  wretched  divine,  published  an  exposition  of  that 
remarkable  text,  which  he  obtruded,  as  the  only 
true  sense  of  the  words,  upon  a  council  assembled 
for  that  purpose,  and  was  desirous  of  having 
received  as  a  rule  of  faith  by  all  the  Grecian 
clergy.  He  maintained  that  the  words  in  ques- 
tion related  to  the  flesh  that  was  hid  in  Christ, 
and  that  was  passible,  i.  e.  subject  to  suffering  (z\ 
and  not  only  ordered  this  decision  to  be  engraven 
on  tables  of  stone  in  the  principal  church  of  Con- 
stantinople, but  also  published  an  edict,  in  which 
capital  punishments  were  denounced  against  all 
such  as  should  presume  to  oppose  this  explication, 
or  teach  any  doctrine  repugnant  to  it  (a).  This 
edict,  however,  expired  with  the  emperor  by 
whom  it  was  issued  out,  and  Andronicus,  upon 
his  accession  to  the  imperial  throne,  prohibited 
all  those  contests  concerning  speculative  points  of 
theology,  that  arose  from  an  irregular  and  wanton 
curiosity,  and  suppressed,  in  a  more  particular 
manner,  all  inquiry  into  the  subject  now  men- 
tioned, by  enacting  the  severest  penalties  against 
such  as  should  in  any  way  contribute  to  revive 
this  dispute  (#). 

Concerning  XVII.  The  same  theological  emperor  troubled 
Mahomet!  ^ne  church  with  another  controversy  concerning 
the  god  of  Mahomet.  The  Greek  catechisms 
pronounced  anathema  against  the  deity  worshipped 
by  that  false  prophet,  whom  they  represented  as  a 
solid  and  spherical  being  (c)  ;  for  so  they  trans- 


(«)  Ka7a  TT 

(a)  Nicetas  Choniates,  Anna!,  lib.  vii.  sect.  6.  p.  113. 

(6)  Nicetas  in  Andronico,  lib.  ii.  sect.  5.  p.  175. 

(c) 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

lated  the  Arabian  word  elsemed,  which  is  applied 

in  the  Koran  to  the  Supreme  Being,  and  which  PAKT'n. 

indeed  is  susceptible  of  that  sense,  though  it  also 

signifies  eternal  (d).  The  emperor  ordered  this 
anathema  to  be  effaced  in  the  catechism  of  the 
Greek  church,  on  account  of  the  high  offence  it 
gave  to  the  Mahometans,  who  had  either  been 
already  converted  to  Christianity,  or  were  dis- 
posed to  embrace  that  divine  religion,  and  who 
were  extremely  shocked  at  such  an  insult  offered 
to  the  name  of  God,  with  whatever  restrictions 
and  conditions  it  might  be  attended.  The  Chris- 
tian doctors,  on  the  other  hand,  opposed  with 
much  resolution  and  vehemence  this  imperial 
order.  They  observed  that  the  anathema,  pro- 
nounced in  the  catechism,  had  no  relation  to  the 
nature  of  God  in  general,  nor  to  the  true  God  in 
particular;  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
solely  directed  against  the  error  of  Mahomet, 
against  that  phantom  of  a  divinity  which  he  had 
imagined.  For  that  impostor  pretended  that  the 
Deity  could  neither  be  engendered  nor  engender ; 
whereas  the  Christians  adore  God  the  Father. 
After  the  bitterest  disputes  concerning  this  ab- 
struse subject,  and  various  efforts  to  reconcile  the 
contending  parties,  the  bishops,  assembled  in 
council,  consented,  though  with  the  utmost  dif- 
ficulty, to  transfer  the  imprecation  of  the  cate- 
chism from  the  god  of  Mahomet,  to  Mahomet 
himself,  his  doctrine,  and  his  sect  (e). 

XVIII.  The  spirit  of  controversy  raged  among  The  contro- 
the  Latins,  as  well  as   among  the  Greeks,   and  ce™fncotnhe 
various  sentiments  concerning   the  sacrament  of  Lord's  Sup- 
the  Lord's  Supper  were  propagated,  not  only  in  rferdls0nar 
the  schools,  but  also  in  the  writings  of  the  learned,  among  the 
For  though  all  the  doctors  of  the  church  were  Latins> 

(d)  Reland,  De  Religione  Mohammedica,  lib.  ii.  sect.  3.  p. 
WL 

(e)  Nicetae  Chron.  Annales,  lib.  vii.  p.  113—116. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    now  extremely  desirous  of  being  looked  upon  as 
PART  ii.  enemies   to   the  system  of  Berenger,   yet  many 

of  them,    and    among    others    (f°)    Rupert    of 

Duytz,  differed  very  little  from  the  sentiments  of 
that  great  man ;  at  least  it  is  certain,  that  not- 
withstanding the  famous  controversy  which  had 
arisen  in  the  church  concerning  the  opinions  of 
Berenger,  nothing  was,  as  yet,  precisely  deter- 
mined with  respect  to  the  manner  of  Christ's 
presence  in  the  eucharist. 

Rupert  had  also  religious  contests  of  another 
nature  with  Anselm,  bishop  of  Laon,  William 
of  Champeaux,  and  their  disciples  and  followers, 
who  maintained  their  doctrine  when  they  were  no 
more.  The  divine  will  and  the  divine  omnipotence 
were  the  subjects  of  this  controversy,  and  the 
question  debated  was,  "  Whether  God  really 
"  willed  and  actually  produced  all  things  that 
"  exist,  or  whether  there  are  certain  things  whose 
"  existence  he  merely  permits,  and  whose  pro- 
"  duction,  instead  of  being  the  effect  of  his  will, 
"was  contrary  to  it?"  The  affirmative  of  the 
latter  part  of  this  question  was  maintained  by 
Rupert,  while  his  adversaries  held  that  all  things 
were  the  effects  not  only  of  the  divine  power,  but 
also  of  the  divine  will.  This  learned  abbot  was 
also  accused  of  having  taught  that  the  angels  were 
formed  out  of  darkness ;  that  Christ  did  not 
administer  his  body  to  Judas,  in  the  last  supper ; 
and  several  other  doctrines  (g\  contrary  to  the 
received  opinions  of  the  church. 

AS  also  that      XIX.  These  and  other  controversies  of  a  more 
concerning  private  kind,  which  made  little  noise  in  the  world, 

the  immacu-  L  -ii'ii  i  r 

late  concep.  were  succeeded,   about  the  year  1 1 40,  by  one  of 
v°irbthe    a  more  public  nature,  concerning  what  was  called, 

Mwy. 

(/)  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  30. 

(g)  See  Mengoz.  Epistola,  published  by  Martene,  in  his 
Thesaur.  Anecdotor.  torn.  i.  p.  290. — Jo.  Mabillon,  Annai 
Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  19,  20.  ¥2,  168.  261. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  105 

The  Immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary  (A).    C|^T. 
Certain  churches  in  France  began,  about  that  time,  PART  n. 

to  celebrate  the  festival  consecrated  to  this  pre • 

tended  conception,  which  the  English  had  observed 
before  this  period  in  consequence  of  the  exhorta- 
tions of  Anselm,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  as 
some  authors  report.  The  church  of  Lyons  was 
one  of  the  first  that  adopted  this  new  festival, 
which  no  sooner  came  to  the  knowledge  of  St. 
Bernard,  than  he  severely  censured  the  Canons 
of  Lyons  on  account  of  this  innovation,  and 
opposed  the  Immaculate  conception  of  the  Virgin 
with  the  greatest  vigour,  as  it  supposed  her  being 
honoured  with  a  privilege  which  belonged  to 
Christ  alone.  Upon  this  a  warm  contest  arose ; 
some  siding  with  the  Canons  of  Lyons,  and  adopt- 
ing the  new  festival,  while  others  adhered  to  the 
sentiments  of  St.  Bernard  (t).  The  controversy, 
however,  notwithstanding  the  zeal  of  the  contend- 
ing parties,  was  carried  on,  during  this  century, 
with  a  certain  degree  of  decency  and  moderation. 
But,  in  after  times,  when  the  Dominicans  were 
established  in  the  academy  of  Paris,  the  contest 
was  renewed  with  the  greatest  vehemence,  and 
the  same  subject  was  debated  on  both  sides,  with 
the  utmost  animosity  and  contention  of  mind. 
The  Dominicans  declared  for  St.  Bernard,  while 
the  academy  patronized  the  Canons  of  Lyons,  and 
adopted  the  new  festival. 

(h)  The  defenders  of  this  Immaculate  conception  main- 
tained, that  the  Virgin  Mary  was  conceived  in  the  womb  of 
her  mother  with  the  same  purity  that  is  attributed  to  Christ's 
conception  in  her  womb. 

(z)  Sti.  Bernard!  Epistola  174.  torn.  i.  p.  170. — Boulay, 
Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  135. — Mabillon,  Annal.  Bened. 
torn.  vi.  p.  327. — Dora.  Colonia,  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  Ville  de 
Lyon,  torn.  ii.  p.  233. 


106  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Concerning  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  used  in  the 
Church  during  this  Century. 

CENT.        I.    THE  rites  and  ceremonies  used  in  divine 
IT.  worsnip>  both  public  and  private,  were  now  greatly 
augmented    among   the    Greeks,    and   the   same 


PART 


used  superstitious  passion  for  the  introduction  of  new 
church. ree  observances  discovered  itself  in  all  the  eastern 
churches.  The  Grecian,  Nestorian,  and  Jacobite 
pontiffs,  that  were  any  way  remarkable  for  their 
credit  or  ambition,  were  desirous  of  transmitting 
their  names  to  posterity  by  the  invention  of  some 
new  rite,  or  by  some  striking  change  introduced 
into  the  method  of  worship  that  had  hitherto  pre- 
vailed. This  was,  indeed,  almost  the  only  way 
left  to  distinguish  themselves  in  an  age,  where  all 
sense  of  the  excellence  of  genuine  religion  and 
substantial  piety  being  almost  totally  lost,  the 
whole  care  and  attention  of  an  ostentatious  clergy, 
and  a  superstitious  multitude,  were  employed 
upon  that  round  of  external  ceremonies  and  ob- 
servances, that  were  substituted  in  their  place. 
Thus  some  attempted,  though  in  vain,  to  render 
their  names  immortal,  by  introducing  a  new 
method  of  reading  or  reciting  the  prayers  of  the 
church ;  others  changed  the  church  music ;  others 
again  tortured  their  inventions  to  find  out  some 
new  mark  of  veneration,  that  might  be  offered  to 
the  relics  and  images  of  the  saints  ;  while  several 
ecclesiastics  did  not  disdain  to  employ  their  time, 
with  the  most  serious  assiduity,  in  embellishing 
the  garments  of  the  clergy,  and  in  forming  the 
motions  and  postures  they  were  to  observe,  and 
the  looks  they  were  to  assume,  in  the  celebration 
of  divine  worship. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  107 

II.  We  may  learn  from  the  book  De  divinis    CENT. 
officiis,    composed    by   the    famous    Rupert,    or 
Robert,  of  Duytz,  what  were  the    rites   in    use 


PART  II. 


among  the  Latins  during  this  century,  as  also  the  The  Latin 
reasons  on  which  they  were  founded.  According  rltual- 
to  the  plan  we  follow,  we  cannot  here  enlarge 
upon  the  additions  that  were  made  to  the  doc- 
trinal part  of  religion.  We  shall  therefore  only 
observe,  that  the  enthusiastic  veneration  for  the 
Virgin  Mary,  which  had  been  hitherto  carried  to 
such  an  excessive  height,  increased  now  instead 
of  diminishing,  since  her  dignity  was  at  this  time 
considerably  augmented  by  the  new  fiction  or  in- 
vention relating  to  her  immaculate  conception. 
For  though,  as  we  observed  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  St.  Bernard  and  others  opposed  with 
vigour  this  chimerical  notion,  yet  their  efforts 
were  counteracted  by  the  superstitious  fury  of  the 
deluded  multitude,  whose  judgment  prevailed  over 
the  councils  of  the  wise.  So  that,  about  the  year 
1138,  there  was  a  solemn  festival  instituted  in 
honour  of  this  pretended  conception,  though  we 
know  not,  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  by  whose 
authority  it  was  first  established,  nor  in  what  place 
it  was  first  celebrated 


CHAPTER  V. 

Concerning  the  Divisions  and  Heresies  that  trou- 
bled  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  THE  Greek  and  eastern  churches  were  in- Fanatic*  of 
fested  with  fanatics  of  different  kinds,  who  gave  j^7h!f«t 
them  much  trouble,   and  engaged   them   in  the  the  Greek 
most  warm  and  violent  contests.     Certain  of  these cburcb- 

Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p.  327.  412. — 
ia  Christiana,  torn.  i.  p.  1198. 


TART 


108  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  fanatics  professed  to  believe  in  a  double  trinity, 
XII*i  rejected  wedlock,  abstained  from  flesh,  treated 
'  with  the  utmost  contempt  the  sacraments  of  bap-- 
tism  and  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  also  all  the  various 
branches  of  external  worship  ;  placed  the  essence 
of  religion  in  internal  prayer  alone,  and  main- 
tained, as  it  is  said,  that  an  evil  being,  or  genius, 
dwelt  in  the  breast  of  every  mortal,  and  could  be 
expelled  from  thence  by  no  other  method  than 
by  perpetual  supplications  to  the  Supreme  Being. 
The  founder  of  this  enthusiastical  sect  is  said  to 
have  been  a  person  called  Lucopetrus.  His  chief 
disciple  was  named  Tychicus,  who  corrupted,  by 
false  and  fanatical  interpretations,  several  books 
of  the  sacred  writings,  and  particularly  the  Gospel 
according  to  St.  Matthew  (/).  It  is  well  known, 
that  enthusiasts  of  this  kind,  who  were  rather 
wrong-headed  than  vicious,  lived  among  the 
Greeks  and  Syrians,  and  more  especially  among 
the  monks,  for  many  ages  before  this  period,  and 
also  in  this  century.  The  accounts,  indeed,  that 
have  been  given  of  them,  are  not  in  all  respects 
to  be  depended  upon :  and  there  are  several  cir- 
cumstances which  render  it  extremely  probable, 
that  many  persons  of  eminent  piety,  and  zeal  for 
genuine  Christianity,  were  confounded  by  the 
Greeks  with  these  enthusiasts,  and  ranked  in  the 
list  of  heretics,  merely  on  account  of  their  op- 
posing the  vicious  practices  and  the  insolent  ty- 
ranny of  the  priesthood,  and  their  treating  with 
derision  that  motley  spectacle  of  superstition  that 
was  supported  by  public  authority.  In  Greece, 
and  in  all  the  eastern  provinces,  this  sort  of  men 
were  distinguished  by  the  general  and  invidious 
appellation  of  Massalians,  or  Euchites  (m),  as 

(1)  See  Euthymii  Triumphus  <le  Secta  Massalianorum  in 
Jac.  Tollii  Insignibus  Itineris  Italic!,  p.  106 — 125. 

m)  Massalians  and  Euchites  are  denominations  that 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  109 

the  Latins  comprehended  all  the  adversaries  of  CENT. 
the  Roman  pontiff  under  the  general  terms  of 
Waldenses  and  Albigenses.  It  is,  however,  ne- 
cessary  to  observe,  that  the  names  abovemen- 
tioned  were  very  vague  and  ambiguous  in  the 
way  they  were  applied  by  the  Greeks  and  the 
Orientals,  who  made  use  of  them  to  characterize, 
without  distinction,  all  such  as  complained  of  the 
multitude  of  useless  ceremonies,  and  of  the  vices 
of  the  clergy,  without  any  regard  to  the  differ- 
ence that  there  was  between  such  persons  in  point 
of  principles  and  morals.  In  short,  the  righteous 
and  the  profligate,  the  wise  and  the  foolish,  were 
equally  comprehended  under  the  name  of  Mas- 
salians,  whenever  they  opposed  the  raging  super- 
stition of  the  times,  or  looked  upon  true  and 
genuine  piety  as  the  essence  of  the  Christian 
character. 

II.  From  the  sect  now  mentioned,  that  of  the 
Bogomiles  is  said  to  have  proceeded,  whose miles' 
founder  Basilius,  a  monk  by  profession,  was  burnt 
at  Constantinople,  under  the  reign  of  Alexius 
Comnenus,  after  all  attempts  to  make  him  re- 
nounce his  errors  had  proved  ineffectual.  By  the 
accounts  we  have  of  this  unhappy  man,  and  of  the 
errors  he  taught,  it  appears  sufficiently  evident, 

signify  the  same  thing,  and  denote,  the  one  in  the  Hebrew, 
and  the  other  in  the  Greek  language,  persons  that  pray.  A 
sect,  under  this  denomination,  arose  during  the  reign  of  the 
emperor  Constantius,  about  the  year  361,  founded  by  certain 
monks  of  Mesopotamia,  who  dedicated  themselves  wholly  to 
prayer,  and  held  many  of  the  doctrines  attributed  by  Mo- 
sheim  to  the  Massalians  of  the  twelfth  century.  See  August. 
De  Haeres.  cap.  Ivii.  and  Theod.  Haerat.  Fab.  lib.  iv.  Epipha- 
nius  speaks  of  another  sort  of  Massalians  still  more  ancient, 
who  were  mere  Gentiles,  acknowledged  several  gods,  yet 
adored  only  one,  whom  they  called  Almighty,  and  had  orato- 
ries in  which  they  assembled  to  pray  and  sing  hymns.  This 
resemblance  between  the  Massalians  and  Essenes  induced 
Scaliger  to  think  that  Epiphanius  confounded  the  former 
with  the  latter. 


110  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  that  his  doctrine  resembled,  in  a  striking  manner, 
PART  W.  tne  religious  system  of  the  ancient  Gnostics  and 
..  Manichaeans  ;  though  at  the  same  time,  it  is  pos- 

sible that  the  Greeks  may  have  falsified  his  tenets 
in  some  respects.  Basilius  maintained,  that  the 
world  and  all  animal  bodies  were  formed,  not  by 
the  Deity,  but  by  an  evil  demon,  who  had  been 
cast  down  from  heaven  by  the  Supreme  Being; 
from  whence  he  concluded,  that  the  body  was 
no  more  than  the  prison  of  the  immortal  spirit, 
and  that  it  was,  therefore,  to  be  enervated  by 
fasting,  contemplation,  and  other  exercises,  that 
so  the  soul  might  be  gradually  restored  to  its 
primitive  liberty ;  for  this  purpose  also  wedlock 
was  to  be  avoided,  with  many  other  circumstances 
which  we  have  often  had  occasion  to  explain  and 
repeat  in  the  course  of  this  history.  It  was  in 
consequence  of  the  same  principles,  that  this  un- 
fortunate enthusiast  denied  the  reality  of  Christ's 
body,  which,  like  the  Gnostics  and  Manichseans, 
he  considered  only  as  a  phantom,  rejected  the  law 
of  Moses,  and  maintained  that  the  body,  upon  its 
separation  by  death,  returned  to  the  malignant 
mass  of  matter,  without  either  the  prospect  or 
possibility  of  a  future  resurrection  to  life  and  feli- 
city. We  have  so  many  examples  of  fanatics  of 
this  kind  in  the  records  of  ancient  times,  and  also 
in  the  history  of  this  century,  that  it  is  by  no 
means  to  be  wondered,  that  some  one  of  them 
more  enterprising  than  the  rest  should  found  a 
sect  among  the  Greeks.  The  name  of  this  sect 
was  taken  from  the  divine  mercy,  which  its 
members  are  said  to  have  incessantly  implored ; 
for  the  word  bogomilus,  in  the  Mysian  language, 
signifies  calling  out  for  mercy  from  above  (n). 


(n)  See  Anna  Comnena  Alexiados,  lib.  xv.  p.  384-.  edit. 
Venetae. — Zonaras  Annalium,  lib.  xviii.  p.  336. — Jo.  Christ. 
Wolf,  Historia  Bogomilorum,  published  at  Witteberg,  in  4to. 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  Ill 

III.  The  Latin  sects  were  yet  more  numerous    CENT. 
than  those  of  the  Greeks,  and  this  will  not  appear     XIL 
at  all  surprising  to  such  as  consider  the  state  of  PART  Ir' 
religion   in   the   greatest  part  of  the   European  The  Latin 
provinces.     The  reign  of  superstition,  the  vices  Abuses 
of  the  clergy,  the  luxury  and  indolence  of  the  from  whence 
pontiffs  and  bishops,  the  encouragement  of  impiety  theysPruns* 
by  the  traffic  of  indulgences,  increasing  from  day 
to  day,  several  pious,  though  weak  men,  who  had 
the  cause  of  Christ  and  of  his  religion  at  heart, 
easily  perceived  that  both  were  in  a  most  declin- 
ing and  miserable  state,  and  therefore  attempted 
a  reformation  in  the  church,  in  order  to  restore 
Christianity  to  its  primitive    purity    and    lustre. 
But  the  knowledge  of  these  good  men  was  not 
equal  to  their  zeal,  nor  were  their  abilities  in  any 
proportion  to  the  grandeur  of  their  undertakings. 
The  greatest  part  of  them  were  destitute  both  of 
learning    and    judgment,    and    involved    in   the 
general  ignorance  of  the  times,  understood  but 
very  imperfectly  the  holy  scriptures,  from  whence 
Christianity  was  derived,  and  by  which  the  abuses 
that  had  been  mingled  with  it  could  only  be  re- 
formed.    In  a  word,  few  of  these  well-meaning 
Christians  were  equal  to  an  attempt  so  difficult 
and  arduous  as  an  universal  reformation ;  and  the 
consequence  of  this  was,  that  while  they  avoided 
the  reigning  abuses,   they  fell    into    others  that 
were  as  little  consistent  with  the  genius  of  true 
religion,  and   carried  the  spirit  of  censure  and 
reformation  to  such  an  excessive  length,  that  it 
degenerated  often  into  the  various  extravagances 
of  enthusiasm,  and  engendered  a  number  of  new 
sects,  that  became  a  new  dishonour  to  the  Chris- 
tian cause. 


1712. — Sam.  Andreae  Diss.  Bogomilis  in  Jo.  Voigtii  Biblio- 
theca  Historian  Haeresiologicae,  torn.  i.  part  II.  p.  121.  Chr. 
Aug.  Heumanni  Dissertat.  cle  Bogomilis. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        IV.    Among  the  sects  that  troubled  the  Latin 
ii   c^urcn  during  this  century,  the  principal  place  is 
due  to  the  Catharists,  whom  we  have  had  already 


TheCathari.  occasion  to  mention  (o).  This  numerous  faction, 
leaving  their  first  residence,  which  was  in  Bul- 
garia, spread  themselves  throughout  almost  all  the 
European  provincev^here  they  occasioned  much 
tumult  and  disorder  ;  but  their  fate  was  unhappy  ; 
for,  wherever  they  were  caught,  they  were  put 
to  death  with  the  most  unrelenting  cruelty  (p). 
Their  religion  resembled  the  doctrine  of  the 
Manichaeans  and  Gnostics,  on  which  account  they 
commonly  received  the  denomination  of  the 
former,  though  they  differed  from  the  genuine 
and  primitive  Manichaeans  in  many  respects.  They 
all  indeed  agreed  in  the  following  points  of 
doctrine  :  viz.  That  matter  was  the  source  of  all 
evil  ;  that  the  Creator  of  this  world  was  a  being 
distinct  from  the  Supreme  Deity  ;  that  Christ 
was  not  clothed  with  a  real  body,  neither  could 
be  properly  said  to  have  been  born,  or  to  have 
seen  death  ;  that  human  bodies  were  the  pro- 
duction of  the  evil  principle  ;  and  that  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper  were  useless  institutions, 
destitute  of  all  efficacy  and  power.  They  exhorted 
all  who  embraced  their  doctrine  to  a  rigorous 
abstinence  from  animal  food,  wine,  and  wedlock, 
and  recommended  to  them,  in  the  most  pathetic 
terms,  the  most  severe  acts  of  austerity  and  mor- 
tification. They  moreover  treated  with  the  utmost 
contempt  all  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
but  expressed  a  high  degree  of  veneration  for 
the  New,  particularly  for  the  Four  Gospels  ; 

(o)  See  Cent.  III.  Part  II.  Ch.  V.  sect.  XVIII.  but  prin- 
cipally for  that  sort  of  Catharists  here  mentioned,  see  above 
Cent.  XI.  Part  II.  Ch.  V.  sect.  II. 

(p)  See  the  accounts  given  of  this  unhappy  and  persecuted 
sect  by  Charles  Plessis  D'Argentre,  in  his  Collectio  judicio- 
rum  de  novis  erroribus,  torn.  i.  in  which,  however,  several 
circumstances  are  omitted, 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  113 

and,  to  pass  over  many  other  peculiarities  in  their    CENT. 
doctrine,    they    maintained,    that    human    souls,  PA"RT*n< 
endued  with  reason,  were  shut  up  by  an  unhappy  - 
fate  in  the  dungeons  of  mortal  bodies,  from  whence 
they  could  only  be  delivered  by  fasting,  mortifica- 
tion, and  continence  of  every  kind  (</). 

V.  These  principles  and  tenets,  though  they The  C 
were  adopted  and  professed  by  the  whole  sect,  So't 
yet  were  differently  interpreted  and  modified  by sects- 
different  doctors.  Hence  the  Catharists  were  di- 
vided into  various  sects,  which,  however,  on  ac- 
count of  the  general  persecution  in  which  they 
were  all  involved,  treated  each  other  with  candour 
and  forbearance,  disputed  with  moderation,  and 
were  thus  careful  not  to  augment  their  common 
calamity  by  intestine  feuds  and  animosities.  Out 
of  these  different  factions  arose  two  leading  and 
principal  sects  of  the  Catharists,  which  were 
distinguished  from  the  rest  by  the  number  of  their 
respective  followers,  and  the  importance  of  their 
differences.  The  one  approached  pretty  nearly 
to  the  Manichsean  system,  held  the  doctrine  of 
two  eternal  Beings,  from  whom  all  things  are 
derived,  the  God  of  light,  who  was  also  the  Father 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  principle  of  darkness, 
whom  they  considered  as  the  author  of  the  mate- 
rial world.  The  other  believed  in  one  eternal 
principle,  the  Father  of  Christ,  and  the  Supreme 
God,  by  whom  also  they  held  that  the  first  matter 
was  created ;  but  they  added  to  this,  that  the  evil 
being,  after  his  rebellion  against  God,  and  his 
fall  from  heaven,  arranged  this  original  matter 
according  to  his  fancy,  and  divided  it  into  four 
elements,  in  order  to  the  production  of  this  visible 

(q)  Besides  the  writers  which  shall  be  mentioned  presently, 
see  the  Disputatio  inter  Catholicum  et  Paterinurn,  published 
hy  Martene,  in  his  Thesaur.  Anecdotor.  torn.  v.  p.  1703.  as 
also  Bonacursi  Manifestatio  Haeresis  Catharorum  in  Luc.  Da- 
cherii  Spicilegio,  torn.  i.  p.  208. 

VOL.  III.  I 


114  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    world.    The  former  maintained,  that  Christ  being 
JL      clothed  with  a  celestial  body  descended  thus  into 


.PART  II, 


the  womb  of  the  Virgin,  and  derived  no  part  of 
his  substance  from  her ;  while  the  latter  taught, 
that  he  first  assumed  a  real  body  in  the  womb  of 
Mary,  though  not  from  her  (r).  The  sect,  which 
held  the  doctrine  of  two  principles,  were  called 
Albanenses,  from  the  name  of  the  place  where 
their  spiritual  ruler  resided  ;  and  this  sect  was  sub- 
divided into  two,  of  which  one  took  the  name  of 
Balazinansa,  bishop  of  Verona,  and  the  other  that 
of  John  de  Lugio,  bishop  of  Bergamo.  The  sect 
which  adhered  to  the  doctrine  of  one  eternal  prin- 
ciple was  also  subdivided  into  the  congregation  of 
Baioli,  the  capital  town  of  the  province,  and  that 
of  Concoregio,  or  Concorezzo.  The  Albigenses, 
who  were  settled  in  France,  belonged  to  the  church 
or  congregation  of  Baioli  (s). 

VI.  In  the  internal  constitution  of  the  church, 
that  was  founded  by  this  sect,  there  were  many 
rules  and  principles  of  a  singular  nature,  which 

(r)  See  Bern.  Moneta,  in  summa  adversus  Catharos  et 
Waldenses,  published  at  Rome  in  the  year  1743,  by  Thorn. 
August.  Richini,who  prefixed  to  it  a  dissertation  concerning 
the  Cathari,  that  is  by  no  means  worthy  of  the  highest  enco- 
miums. Moneta  was  no  mean  writer  for  the  time  in  which 
he  lived.  See  Lib.  i.  p.  2.  et  5.  Lib.  ii.  p.  247,  &c. 

(s)  Raineri  Sachoni  summa  de  Catharis  et  Leonistis  in 
Martene  Thesaur.  Anecdot.  torn.  v.  p.  1761.  1768. — Fere- 
grinus  Prescianus  in  Muratorii,  Antiq.  Ital.  medii  acvi,  torn, 
v.  p.  93.  who  exhibits,  in  a  sort  of  table,  these  different  sects, 
but  by  a  mistake  places  the  Albigenses,  who  were  a  branch 
of  the  Baiolenses  in  the  place  of  the  Albanenses  ;  this,  per- 
haps, may  be  an  error  of  the  press.  The  opinions  of  these 
Baiolenses  or  Bagnolenses  may  be  seen  in  the  Codex  Inqui- 
sitiones  Tolosanae,  which  Limborch  published  with  his  His- 
tory of  the  Inquisition.  The  account,  however,  which  we 
have  in  that  history  (Book  I.  Ch.  VIII.)  of  the  opinions  of 
the  Albigenses,  is  by  no  means  accurate.  A  great  variety 
of  causes  has  contributed  to  involve  in  darkness  and  per- 
plexity the  distinctive  characters  of  these  different  sects, 
whose  respective  systems  we  cannot  enlarge  upon  at  present. 


PART   If. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies,  115 

we  pass  over  in  silence,  as  they  would  oblige  us  CENT. 
to  enter  into  a  detail  inconsistent  with  the  bre- 
vity  we  propose  to  observe  in  this  work.  The 
government  of  this  church  was  administered  by 
bishops,  and  each  bishop  had  two  vicars,  of  whom 
one  was  called  the  eldest  son,  and  the  other  the 
younger  ;  while  the  rest  of  the  clergy  and  doctors 
were  comprehended  under  the  general  denomi- 
nation of  deacons  (7).  The  veneration  which  the 
people  had  for  the  clergy  in  general,  and  more 
especially  for  the  bishops  and  their  spiritual  sons, 
was  carried  to  a  length  that  almost  exceeds  credi- 
bility. The  discipline  observed  by  this  sect  was 
so  excessively  rigid  and  austere,  that  it  was 
practicable  only  by  a  certain  numbed  of  robust 
and  determined  fanatics.  But  that  such  as  were 
not  able  to  undergo  this  discipline  might  not,  on 
that  account,  be  lost  to  the  cause,  it  was  thought 
necessary,  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  Manichaeans, 
to  divide  this  sect  into  two  classes,  one  of  which 
was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  the  consolati, 
i.  e.  comforted,  while  the  other  received  only 
the  denomination  of  confederates.  The  former 
gave  themselves  out  for  persons  of  consummate 
wisdom  and  extraordinary  piety,  lived  in  perpe- 
tual celibacy,  and  led  a  life  of  the  severest  morti- 
fication and  abstinence,  without  ever  allowing 
themselves  the  enjoyment  of  any  worldly  comfort. 
The  latter,  if  we  except  a  few  particular  rules 
which  they  observed,  lived  like  the  rest  of  man- 
kind,  but  at  the  same  time  were  obliged  by  a 
solemn  agreement  they  had  made  with  the  church, 
and  which,  in  Italian,  they  called  la  convenenza, 
to  enter  before  their  death,  in  their  last  moments, 
if  not  sooner,  into  the  class  of  the  comforted,  and 
to  receive  the  consolamentum,  which  was  the  form 

ik,  .">       (t)  See  Sachoni  summa  de  Catharis,  p.  1766. 

I  2 


116  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    of  inauguration,  by  which  they  were  introduced 
PART'H  *n^°  ^ia^  fanatical  order  (it). 
VII.  A  much  more  rational  sect  was  that  which 


The  Petro-  was  founded  about  the  year  1110  in  Languedoc 
and  Provence,  by  Peter  de  Bruys,  who  made  the 
most  laudable  attempts  to  reform  the  abuses 
and  to  remove  the  superstitions  that  disfigured 
the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  and  after 
having  engaged  in  his  cause  a  great  number  of 
followers,  during  a  laborious  ministry  of  twenty 
years  continuance,  was  burnt  at  St.  Giles',  in  the 
year  1  1  30,  by  an  enraged  populace,  set  on  by  the 
clergy,  whose  traffic  was  in  danger  from  the  en- 
terprising spirit  of  this  new  reformer.  The  whole 
system  of  doctrine,  which  this  unhappy  martyr, 
whose  zeal  was  not  without  a  considerable  mixture 
of  fanaticism,  taught  to  the  Petrobrussians,  his 
disciples,  is  not  known  ;  it  is  however  certain, 
that  the  five  following  tenets  made  a  part  of  his 
system.  1.  That  no  persons  whatever,  were  to  be 
baptized  before  they  were  come  to  the  full  use 
of  their  reason.  2.  That  it  was  an  idle  supersti- 
tion to  build  churches  for  the  service  of  God, 
who  will  accept  of  a  sincere  worship  wherever  it 
is  offered  ;  and  that  therefore  such  churches  as 
had  already  been  erected  were  to  be  pulled  down 
and  destroyed.  3.  That  the  crucifixes,  as  instru- 
ments of  superstition,  deserved  the  same  fate. 
4.  That  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were 
not  exhibited  in  the  eucharist,  but  were  merely 
represented,  in  that  holy  ordinance,  by  their 
figures  and  symbols.  5.  And,  lastly,  That  the 
oblations,  prayers,  and  good  works  of  the  living, 
could  be  in  no  respect  advantageous  to  the 
dead 


(u)  For  a  further  account  of  this  sect,  see  the  writers 
mentioned  above,  and  particularly  the  Codex  Inquisitionis 
Tolosanae. 

(M?)  See  Petri  Venerab,  Lib.  contra  Petrobrussianos  in 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  117 

VIII.  This  Innovator  was   succeeded  by  an-    CENT. 
other,  who  was  an  Italian  by  birth,  and  whose 
name  was    Henry,    the   founder   and    parent  of 


the  sect  called  Henricians.  It  was,  no  doubt,  a  The  Henri- 
rare  tiling  to  see  a  person,  who  was  at  the  same  C1 
time  monk  and  hermit,  undertaking  to  reform 
the  superstitions  of  the  times  ;  yet  such  was  the 
case  of  Henry,  who  leaving  Lausanne,  a  city  of 
Switzerland,  travelled  to  Mans,  and  being  banished 
thence,  removed  successively  to  Poitiers,  Bour- 
deaux,  and  the  countries  adjacent,  and  at  length 
to  Thoulouse  in  the  year  114-7,  exercising  his 
ministerial  function  in  all  these  places  with  the 
utmost  applause  from  the  people,  and  declaim- 
ing, with  the  greatest  vehemence  and  fervour, 
against  the  vices  of  the  clergy,  and  the  supersti- 
tions they  had  introduced  into  the  Christian 
church.  At  Thoulouse  he  was  warmly  opposed 
by  St.  Bernard,  by  whose  influence  he  was  over- 
powered, notwithstanding  his  popularity,  and 
obliged  to  save  himself  by  flight.  But  being  seized, 
in  his  retreat,  by  a  certain  bishop,  he  was  carried 
before  Pope  Eugenius  III.  who  presided  in  person 
at  a  council  then  assembled  at  Rheims,  and  who, 
in  consequence  of  the  accusations  brought  against 
Henry,  committed  him,  in  the  year  1  148,  to  a 
close  prison,  where  in  a  little  time  after  this,  he 
ended  his  days  (Lr).  We  have  no  accurate  account 
of  the  doctrines  of  this  reformer  transmitted 
to  our  times.  All  we  know  of  that  -matter  is, 
that  he  rejected  the  baptism  of  infants  ;  cen- 
sured with  severity  the  corrupt  and  licentious 

Bibliotheca  Cluniensi,  p.  1117.—  Mabillon,  Annal.  Benedict. 
torn.  vi.  p.  34-6.  —  Basnage,  Histoire  des  Eglises  Reformees, 
period  iv.  p.  HO. 

(x)  Gesta  Episcoporum  Cenomanens.  in  Mabillon,  Analect. 
veter.  aevi,  p.  315.  ed.  Nov.—  Gaufridi  Epistola  in  Lib.  vi. 
Vita  Sti.  Bernard!,  torn.  ii.  opp.  Bernhard.  p.  1207.  —  Matth. 
Histor.  Major,  p.  71—  Mabillon,  Pnef.  ad  Opera  Bernhardi, 
sect.  vi.  et  Annal.  Benedict,  torn.  vi.  p,  34-6.  4-20.  4-34. 


1  18  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CFNT.  manners  of  the  clergy  ;  treated  the  festivals  and 
purr  ii  ceremonies  of  the  church  with  the  utmost  con- 
tempt  ;  and  held  clandestine  assemblies,  in  which 
he  explained  and  inculcated  the  novelties  he 
taught.  Several  writers  affirm,  that  he  was  the 
disciple  of  Peter  de  Bruys  ;  but  I  cannot  see 
upon  what  evidence  or  authority  this  assertion  is 
grounded 


The  horrid       IX.  While   the  Henricians  were   propagating 

blasphemy     ,1-1,-  -ri  •nv, 

ofTanue-  their  doctrines  in  r  ranee,  a  certain  illiterate  man, 
called  Tanquelinus,  or  Tanquelmus,  arose  in 
Brabant  about  the  year  1115,  excited  the  most 
deplorable  commotions  at  Antwerp,  and  drew 
after  him  a  most  numerous  sect.  If  the  accounts 
that  are  given  us  of  this  heresiarch  by  his  adver- 
saries may  be  at  all  depended  upon,  he  must  either 
have  been  a  monstrous  impostor,  or  an  outrage- 
ous madman.  For  he  walked  in  public  with  the 
greatest  solemnity,  pretended  to  be  God,  or,  at 
least,  the  Son  of  God,  ordered  daughters  to  be 
ravished  in  presence  of  their  mothers,  and  com- 
mitted himself  the  greatest  disorders.  Such  are 
the  enormities  that  are  attributed  to  Tanquel- 
mus, but  they  are  absolutely  incredible,  and 
therefore  cannot  be  true  (#).  "What  seems  most 
worthy  of  credit  in  this  matter  is,  that  this  new 
teacher  had  imbibed  the  opinions  and  spirit  of  the 
Mystics  ;  that  he  treated  with  contempt  the  ex- 

(v)  That  Henry  was  the  disciple  of  Peter  De  Bruys  is  not 
at  ail  probable  :  since,  not  to  insist  upon  other  reasons,  the 
latter  could  not  bear  the  sight  of  a  cross,  and  in  all  likelihood 
owed  his  death  to  the  multitude  of  crucifixes  which  he  had 
committed  to  the  flames:  whereas  the  former,  when  he 
entered  into  any  city,  appeared  with  a  cross  in  his  hand, 
which  he  bore  as  a  standard,  to  attract  the  veneration  of  the 
people.  See  Mabillon,  Analecta,  p.  316. 

(z)  Epistola  Trajectens.  Ecclesise  ad  Tridericum  Episco- 
pum  de  Tanchelmo,  in  Sel.  Tengnagelii  Collectione  Veterurn 
Monumentor,  p.  368.  —  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii. 
p.  98.  —  Argentrc,  Collectio  Judicior.  de  novis  crroribus> 
torn.  i.  p.  10. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies. 

ternal  worship  of  God,  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's    CENT. 
Supper  and  the  rite  of  baptism ;  and  held  clan-  PART  II0 

destine  assemblies  to  propagate  more  effectually 

his  visionary  notions.  But  as,  besides  all  this, 
he  inveighed  against  the  clergy,  like  the  other 
heretics  already  mentioned,  and  declaimed  against 
their  vices  with  vehemence  and  intrepidity,  it  is 
probable  that  these  blasphemies  were  falsely 
charged  upon  him  by  a  vindictive  priesthood.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  fate  of  Tanquelmus  was  un- 
happy, for  he  was  assassinated  by  an  ecclesiastic 
in  a  cruel  manner.  His  sect,  however,  did  not 
perish  with  him,  but  acquired  strength  and  vigour 
under  the  ministry  of  his  disciples,  until  it  was  at 
length  extinguished  by  the  famous  St.  Norbert, 
the  founder  of  the  order  of  Praemonstratenses,  or 
Premontres  (a). 

X.  In  Italy,  Arnold  of  Brescia,  a  disciple  of  Seditions 
Abelard,  and  a  man  of  extensive  erudition  and  J^1^ m 
remarkable  austerity,  but  also  of  a  turbulent  and  Arnold  of 
impetuous  spirit,  excited  new  troubles  and  com- Brescia* 
motions    both    in    church   and    state.      He   was, 
indeed,  condemned  in  the  council  of  the  Laterari, 
A.  D.  1139,  by  Innocent  II.  and  tThereby  obliged 
to  retire  into  Switzerland ;    but  upon  the  death 
of  that  pontiff,  he  returned  into  Italy,  and  raised 
at    Rome,  during    the    pontificate    of   Eugenius 
III.    several    tumults   and    seditions    among    the 
people,    who    changed,    by    his    instigation,    the 
government  of  the  city,  and  insulted  the  persons 
of  the  clergy  in  the  most  disorderly  manner.     He 
fell  however  at  last  a  victim  to  the  vengeance  of 
his  enemies ;  for,  after  various  turns  of  fortune, 
he  was  seized  in  the  year  1155,  by  a  prsefect  of 
the  city,  by  whom  he  was  crucified,   and   after- 
wards burned  to  ashes.     This  unhappy  man  seems 

(a)  Lewis  Hugo,  Vie  de  S.  Norbert,  livr.  II.  p.  126. — 
Clirys.  vander  Sterre  Vito  S.  Norberti.  cap.  xxxvi.  p.  164%  et 
Potyc.  de  Hertoche,  ad  illam  Annotatioaes,  p., 387. 


120  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    not  to  have  adopted  any  doctrines    inconsistent 
XIL      with  the  spirit  of  true  religion  ;    and  the  priii- 

PART  H?      .-  |  1-11, 

ciples  upon  which  he  acted  were  chiefly  repre- 
hensible from  their  being  carried  too  far,  applied 
without  discernment  and  discretion,  and  executed 
with  a  degree  of  vehemence  which  was  as  criminal 
as  it  was  imprudent.  Having  perceived  the 
discords  and  animosities,  the  calamities  and  dis- 
orders that  sprung  from  the  overgrown  opulence 
of  the  pontiffs  and  bishops,  he  was  persuaded  that 
the  interests  of  the  church,  and  the  happiness  of 
nations  in  general,  required,  that  the  clergy  should 
be  divested  of  all  their  worldly  possessions,  of  all 
their  temporal  rights  and  prerogatives.  He,  there- 
fore, maintained  publicly,  that  the  treasures  and 
revenues  of  popes,  bishops,  and  monasteries,  ought 
to  be  solemnly  resigned  and  transferred  to  the 
supreme  rulers  of  each  state,  and  that  nothing  was 
to  be  left  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  but  a 
spiritual  authority  and  a  subsistence  drawn  from 
tithes,  and  from  the  voluntary  oblations  and 
contributions  of  the  people  (&).  This  violent 
reformer,  in  whose  character  and  manners  there 
were  several  things  worthy  of  esteem,  drew  after 
him  a  great  number  of  disciples,  who  derived  from 
him  the  denomination  of  Arnoldists,  and,  in  suc- 
ceeding times,  discovered  the  spirit  and  intrepidity 
of  their  leader,  as  often  as  any  favourable  oppor- 
tunities of  reforming  the  church  were  offered  to 
their  zeal. 

The  origin       xi.  Of  all  the  sects  that  arose  in  this  century 

and  history  T«  •   i       i   i          i  •  • 

of  the  Wai.  none  was  more  distinguished  by  the  reputation  it 
acquired,  by  the  multitude  of  its  votaries,  and  the 


(b)  See  Otto  Prising,  de  gestis  Frederici  I.  lib.  ii.  cap.  xx. 
—S.  Bernhardus  Epist.  195,  196.  [torn.  i.  p.  187. — Boulay, 
Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  157. — Muratori,  Droits  de 
1'Empiresur  1'Etat  Ecclesiastique,  p.  137. — Henr.  de  Bunau 
Vita  Frederici  I.  p.  41. — Chaufepied,  Nouveau  Diction.  Hist. 
Crit.  torn.  ii.  p.  4-82. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  121 

testimony  which  its  bitterest  enemies  bore  to  the  CENT. 
probity  and  innocence  of  its  members,  than  that 
of  the  Waldenses,  so  called  from  their  parent  and 
founder  Peter  Waldus.  This  sect  was  known  by 
different  denominations.  From  the  place  where 
it  first  appeared,  its  members  were  called  The 
poor  men  of  Lyons  (c),  or  Lyonists,  and,  from 
the  wooden  shoes  which  its  doctors  wore,  and  a 
certain  mark  that  was  imprinted  upon  these  shoes, 
they  were  called  Insabbatati,  or  Sabbatati  (c?). 
The  origin  of  this  famous  sect  was  as  follows  : 
Peter,  an  opulent  merchant  of  Lyons,  surnamed 
Valdensis,  or  Validisius,  from  Vaux,  or  Waldum, 
a  town  in  the  marquisate  of  Lyons,  being  ex- 
tremely zealous  for  the  advancement  of  true  piety 
and  Christian  knowledge,  employed  a  certain 
priest  (<?),  about  the  year  1160,  in  translating 
from  Latin  into  French  the  Four  Gospels,  with 
other  books  of  Holy  Scripture,  and  the  most  re- 
markable sentences  of  the  ancient  doctors,  which 
were  so  highly  esteemed  in  this  century.  But  no 
sooner  had  he  perused  these  sacred  books  with  a 
proper  degree  of  attention,  than  he  perceived  that 
the  religion,  which  was  now  taught  in  the  Roman 

(c)  They  were  called  Leonists  from  Leona,  the  ancient 
name  of  Lyons,  where  their  sect  took  its  rise.     The  more 
eminent  persons  of  that  sect  manifested  their  progress  toward 
perfection  by  the  simplicity  and  meanness  of  their  external 
appearance.     Hence  among  other  things,  they  wore  wooden 
shoes,  which  in  the  French  language  are  termed  sabots,  and 
had  imprinted  upon  these  shoes  the  sign  of  the  cross,  to 
distinguish  themselves  from  other  Christians ;  and  it  was  on 
these  accounts  that  they  acquired  the  denominations  of  sab- 
batati  and  insabbatati.     See  Du  Fresne  Glossarium  Latin 
medii  aevi,  vi.  voce  Sabbatati,  p.  4. — Nicol.  Eumerici  Direc- 
torium  Inquisitorum,  part  III.  N.  112,  &c. 

(d)  See   Steph.  de   Borbone,  De  septem  donis  Spiritus 
sancti,  in  Echard  et  Quetif  Bibliotheca  Scriptor.  Dominica- 
nor.  torn.  i.  p.  192. — Anonym.  Tractatio  de  Hocresi  Paupe- 
rum  de  Lugduno,  in  Martene  Thesauro  Anccdotor.  torn.  v. 
p.  1777. 

(c)  This  priest  was  called  Stephanas  de  Evisa. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  church,  differed  totally  from  that  which  was  ori- 
'  £ma%  inculcated  by  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
1  Struck  with  this  glaring  contradiction  between 
the  doctrines  of  the  pontiffs  and  the  truths  of  the 
gospel,  and  animated  with  a  pious  zeal  for  pro- 
moting his  own  salvation,  and  that  of  others,  he 
abandoned  his  mercantile  vocation,  distributed  his 
riches  among  the  poor  (jf ),  and  forming  an  asso- 
ciation with  other  pious  men,  who  had  adopted 
his  sentiments  and  his  turn  of  devotion,  he  began, 
in  the  year  1 180,  to  assume  the  quality  of  a  public 
teacher,  and  to  instruct  the  multitude  in  the  doc- 
trines and  precepts  of  Christianity.  The  arch- 
bishop of  Lyons,  and  the  other  rulers  of  the 
church  in  that  province,  opposed,  with  vigour,  this 
new  doctor  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry.  But 
their  opposition  was  unsuccessful  ;  for  the  purity 
and  simplicity  of  that  religion  which  these  good 
men  taught,  the  spotless  innocence  that  shone 
forth  in  their  lives  and  actions,  and  the  noble 
contempt  of  riches  and  honours  which  was  con- 
spicuous in  the  whole  of  their  conduct  and  con- 
versation, appeared  so  engaging  to  all  such  as  had 
any  sense  of  true  piety,  that  the  number  of  their 
disciples  and  followers  increased  from  day  to 
day  (g).  They  accordingly  formed  religious  as- 

(/)  It  was  on  this  account  that  the  Waldenses  were  called 
Pauvres  de  Lyons,  or  Poor  men  of  Lyons. 

(g)  Certain  writers  give  different  accounts  of  the  origin  of 
the  Waldenses,  and  supposed  they  were  so  called  from  the 
Valleys  in  which  they  had  resided  for  many  ages  before  the 
birth  of  Peter  Waldus.  But  these  writers  have  no  authority 
to  support  this  assertion,  and,  besides  this,  they  are  refuted 
amply  by  the  best  historians.  I  don't  mean  to  deny,  that 
there  were  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  long  before  this  period, 
a  set  of  men,  who  differed  widely  from  the  opinions  adopted 
and  inculcated  by  the  church  of  Rome,  and  whose  doctrine 
resembled,  in  many  respects,  that  of  the  Waldenses ;  all  that 
I  maintain  is,  that  these  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  above- 
mentioned  are  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the  Walden- 
ses, who,  according  to  the  unanimous  voice  of  history,  were 
originally  inhabitants  of  Lyons,  and  derived  their  name  from 


PART  If. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  123 

semblies,  first  in  France,  and  afterwards  in  Lorn-    CENT. 
bardy,   from  whence  they  propagated  their  sect      XIL 

1  1  1  *          •  f>      T^  .     1         T>  A  «  nn     i 

throughout  the  otlier  provinces  of  .hurope  with 
incredible  rapidity,  and  with  such  invincible  for- 
titude, that  neither  fire  nor  sword,  nor  the  most 
cruel  inventions  of  merciless  persecution,  could 
damp  their  zeal,  or  entirely  ruin  their  cause 


Peter  WalcUis,  their  founder  and  chief,  (jjjT  We  may  venture 
to  affirm  the  contrary,  with  the  learned  Beza  and  other  writers 
of  note;  for  it  seems  evident  from  the  best  records,  that 
Valdus  derived  his  name  from  the  true  Valdenses  of  Pied- 
mont, whose  doctrine  he  adopted,  and  who  were  known  by 
the  names  of  Vaudois  and  Valdenses,  before  he  or  his  imme- 
diate followers  existed.  If  the  Valdenses  or  Waldenses  had 
derived  their  name  from  any  eminent  teacher,  it  would  pro- 
bably have  been  from  Valdo,  who  was  remarkable  for  the 
purity  of  his  doctrine  in  the  IXth  century,  and  was  the  con- 
temporary and  chief  counsellor  of  Berengarius.  But  the 
truth  is,  that  they  derive  their  name  from  their  Valleys  in 
Piedmont,  which  in  their  language  are  called  Vaux,  hence 
Vaudois,  their  true  name  ;  hence  Peter  or  (as  others  call  him) 
John  of  Lyons,  was  called  in  Latin,  Valdus,  because  he  had 
adopted  their  doctrine  ;  and  hence  the  term  Valdenses  and 
Waldenses  used  by  those,  who  write  in  English  or  Latin,  in 
the  place  of  Vaudois.  The  bloody  inquisitor  Reinerus  Sacco, 
who  exerted  such  a  furious  zeal  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Waldenses,  lived  but  about  80  years  after  Valdus  of  Lyons, 
and  must  therefore  be  supposed  to  know  whether  or  not  he 
was  the  real  founder  of  the  Valdenses  or  Leonists  ;  and  yet 
it  is  remarkable  that  he  speaks  of  the  Leonists  (mentioned  by 
Dr.  Mosheim  in  the  preceding  page,  as  synonymous  with 
Waldenses)  as  a  sect  that  had  flourished  above  500  years  ; 
nay,  mentions  authors  of  note,  who  make  their  antiquity 
remount  to  the  apostolic  age.  See  the  account  given  of  Sac- 
co's  book  by  the  Jesuit  Gretser,  in  the  Bibliotheca  Patrum. 
I  know  not  upon  what  principle  Dr.  Mosheim  maintains,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  are  to  be  carefully 
distinguished  from  the  Waldenses  ;  and  I  am  persuaded,  that 
whoever  will  be  at  the  pains  to  read  attentively  the  2d,  25th, 
26th,  and  27th  chapters  of  the  first  book  of  Leger's  Histoire 
General  e  des  Eglises  Vaudoises,  will  find  this  distinction 
entirely  groundless.  —  When  the  papists  ask  us,  where  our 
religion  was  before  Luther  ?  we  generally  answer,  in  the 
Bible  ;  and  we  answer  well.  But,  to  gratify  their  taste  for 
tradition  and  human  authority,  we  may  add  to  this  answer, 
and  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont. 

(h)   See  the  following  ancient  writers,  who  have  given 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XII.    The  attempts  of  Peter  Waldus  and  his 
f°H°wers  were  neither  employed  nor  designed  to 
1  introduce  new  doctrines  into  the  church,  nor  to 


The  doc-  propose  new  articles  of  faith  to  Christians.  All 
piin^  anT~  tnev  aimed  at  was,  to  reduce  the  form  of  eccle- 
views  of  the  siastical  government,  and  the  lives  and  manners 
lenses,  fofa  of  t|ie  c}ergy  an(j  people,  to  that  amiable 
simplicity,  and  that  primitive  sanctity,  that  cha- 
racterised the  apostolic  ages,  and  which  appear 
so  strongly  recommended  in  the  precepts  and  in- 
junctions of  the  divine  author  of  our  holy  religion. 
In  consequence  of  this  design,  they  complained 
that  the  Roman  church  had  degenerated,  under 
Constantine  the  Great,  from  its  primitive  purity 
and  sanctity.  They  denied  the  supremacy  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  and  maintained  that  the  rulers 
and  ministers  of  the  church  were  obliged,  by  their 
vocation,  to  imitate  the  poverty  of  the  apostles, 
and  to  procure  for  themselves  a  subsistence  by 
the  work  of  their  hands.  They  considered  every 
Christian,  as  in  a  certain  measure  qualified  and 
authorised  to  instruct,  exhort,  and  confirm  the 
brethren  in  their  Christian  course,  and  demanded 
the  restoration  of  the  ancient  penitential  disci- 
pline of  the  church,  i.  e.  the  expiation  of  trans- 
gressions by  prayer,  fasting,  and  alms,  which  the 
new-invented  doctrine  of  indulgences  had  almost 
totally  abolished.  They,  at  the  same  time,  af- 

accounts  of  the  sect  in  question,  to  wit,  Sachoni  Summa  con- 
tra Valdenses.  —  Monetae,  Summa  contra  Catharos  et  Val- 
denses, published  by  Richini.  —  Tr.  di  Hseresi  Pauperum  de 
Lugduno,  published  by  Martene,  in  his  Thesaur.  Anecdot. 
torn.  v.  p.  1777.  —  Pilichdorfius,  contra  Valdenses,  t.  xxv.  B. 
B.  Max.  Patr.  —  Add  to  these  authors,  Jo.  Paul  Perrin  His- 
toire  de  Vaudois,  published  at  Geneva  in  1619.  —  Jo.  Leger, 
Histoire  Generale  des  Eglises  Vaudoises,  livr.  i.  ch.  xiv.  p. 
136.  —  Usserii,  De  Successione  Ecclesiarum  Occidentis,  cap. 
viii.  p.  209.  —  Jac.  Basnage  Histoire  des  Eglises  Reformees, 
tom.i.  period,  iv.  p.  329.  —  Thorn.  August.  Richini  Disscrtat. 
de  Valdensibus,  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  the  Summa  Mo- 
netae,  p.  36.  —  Boulay,  Histor.  A  cad.  Paris,  torn,  ii,  p.  292. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies. 

firmed,  that  every  pious  Christian  was  qualified  CENT. 
and  entitled  to  prescribe  to  the  penitent  the  kind 
and  degree  of  satisfaction  or  expiation  that  their 
transgressions  required ;  that  confession  made  to 
priests  was  by  no  means  necessary,  since  the 
humble  offender  might  acknowledge  his  sins  and 
testify  his  repentance  to  any  true  believer,  and 
might  expect  from  such  the  counsels  and  admo- 
nitions that  his  case  and  circumstances  demanded. 
They  maintained  that  the  power  of  delivering 
sinners  from  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  their 
offences  belonged  to  God  alone  ;  and  that  indul- 
gences, of  consequence,  were  the  criminal  inven- 
tions of  sordid  avarice.  They  looked  upon  the 
prayers,  and  other  ceremonies  that  were  instituted 
in  behalf  of  the  dead,  as  vain,  useless,  and  absurd, 
and  denied  the  existence  of  departed  souls  in  an 
intermediate  state  of  purification,  affirming,  that 
they  were  immediately,  upon  their  separation  from 
the  body,  received  into  heaven,  or  thrust  down 
to  hell.  These  and  other  tenets  of  a  like 
nature  composed  the  system  of  doctrine  propa- 
gated by  the  Waldenses.  Their  rules  of  prac- 
tice were  extremely  austere  ;  for  they  adopted, 
as  the  model  of  their  moral  discipline,  the  Sermon 
of  Christ,  on  the  mount,  which  they  interpreted 
and  explained  in  the  most  rigorous  and  literal 
manner,  and,  of  consequence,  prohibited  and 
condemned  in  their  society  all  wars,  and  suits 
of  law,  all  attempts  towards  the  acquisition  of 
wealth,  the  inflicting  of  capital  punishments,  self- 
defence  against  unjust  violence,  and  oaths  of  all 
kinds  (z). 

(t)  See  the  Codex  Inquisitionis  Tolosanae,  published  by 
Limborch,  as  also  the  summa  Monetse  contra  Waldenses, 
and  the  other  writers  of  the  Waldensian  history.  Though 
these  writers  are  not  all  equally  accurate,  nor  perfectly 
agreed  about  the  number  of  doctrines  that  entered  into  the 
system  of  this  sect,  yet  they  are  almost  all  unanimous  in  ac- 
knowledging the  sincere  piety  and  exemplary  conduct  of 


120  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XIII.  The  government  of  the  church  was  com- 


XII. 


PART 


T'ir  mitted,  by  the  Waldenses,  to  bishops  (&),  pres- 
byters, and  deacons  ;  for  they  acknowledged  that 
The  form  of  these  three  ecclesiastical  orders  were  instituted  by 
government  Christ  himself.  But  they  looked  upon  it  as  abso- 
among  the  lutely  necessary,  that  all  these  orders  should  re- 

Waklenses.  ,  •;  .11  xi  P  ^v        v    •         o       • 

semble  exactly  the  apostles  or  the  divine  oaviour, 
and  be,  like  them,  illiterate,  poor,  destitute  of 
all  worldly  possessions,  and  furnished  with  some 
laborious  trade  or  vocation,  in  order  to  gain  by 
constant  industry  their  daily  subsistence  (/).  The 
laity  were  divided  into  two  classes ;  one  of  which 
contained  the  perfect,  and  the  other  the  imperfect 
Christians.  The  former  spontaneously  divested 
themselves  of  all  worldly  possessions,  manifested, 
in  the  wretchedness  of  their  apparel,  their  ex- 
cessive poverty,  and  emaciated  their  bodies  by 
frequent  fasting.  The  latter  were  less  austere, 
and  approached  nearer  to  the  method  of  living 
generally  received,  though  they  abstained,  like  the 
graver  sort  of  anabaptists  in  later  times,  from  all 
appearance  of  pomp  and  luxury.  It  is,  however, 
to  be  observed,  that  the  ¥/aldenses  were  not  with- 
out their  intestine  divisions.  Such  of  them  as 
lived  in  Italy  differed  considerably  in  their  opinions 
from  those  who  dwelt  in  France  and  the  other 
European  nations.  The  former  considered  the 
church  of  Rome  as  the  church  of  Christ,  though 
much  corrupted  and  sadly  disfigured  ;  they  ac- 
knowledged moreover  the  validity  of  its  seven 
sacraments,  and  solemnly  declared  that  they  would 

the  Waldenses,  and  show  plainly  enough  that  their  intention 
was  not  to  oppose  the  doctrines  that  were  universally  re- 
ceived among  Christians,  but  only  to  revive  the  piety  and 
manners  of  the  primitive  times,  and  to  combat  the  vices  of 
the  clergy,  and  the  abuses  that  had  been  introduced  into  the 
worship  and  discipline  of  the  church. 

(k)   The  bishops  were  also  called  majorales,  or  elders. 

(/)  The  greatest  part  of  the  Waldenses  gained  their  live- 
lihood by  weaving;  hence  the  whole  sect  in  certain  places 
were  called  the  sect  of  weavers. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies. 

continue  always  in  communion  with  it,  provided    CENT. 
they  might  be  allowed   to  live  as  they  thought      xn- 

•    i  i  •  rfvi  "  *  " "'    1 

proper,  without  molestation  or  restraint.  Hie 
latter  affirmed,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  church 
of  Rome  had  apostatized  from  Christ,  was  de- 


PART    II. 


prived  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  was,  in  reality,  j 
that  whore  of  Babylon  mentioned  in  the  Revela- 
tions of  St.  John  (m). 

XIV.    Besides  these  famous  sects,  which  made  Sects  of  a 
a  great  noise  in  the  world,  and  drew  after  them  jf£8deimnent 
multitudes  from  the  bosom  of  a  corrupt  and  super-  The  Pasa- 
stitious  church,  there  were  other  religious  factions  s'm< 
of  lesser  importance,  which  arose  in  Italy,  and 
more  especially  in  France,   though  they  seem  to 
have  expired  soon  after  their  birth  (11).     In  Lom- 
bardy,   which  was  the  principal  residence  of  the 
Italian  heretics,  there  sprung  up  a  very  singular 
sect,    known    by    the    denomination    of   Pasagi- 
nians  (o),   and  also  by  that  of  the  circumcised. 
Like  the  other  sects  already  mentioned,  they  had 
the  utmost  aversion  to  the  dominion  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church  of  Rome  ;  but  they  were,  at 
the    same   time,    distinguished    by  two    religious 
tenets  that  were  peculiar  to  themselves.    The  first 
was  a  notion,  that  the  observation  of  the  law  of 
Moses  in  every  thing  except  the  offering  of  sacri- 

(m)  Monetae  Summa  contra  Catharos  et  Valdenses,  p.  406. 
416,  &c.  They  seem  to  have  been  also  divided  in  their  senti- 
ments concerning  the  possession  of  wordly  goods,  as  appears 
from  the  accounts  of  Stephanas  de  Borbone,  in  Echardi, 
Scriptoribus  Dominicanis,  torn.  i.  p.  191.  This  writer  divides 
the  Waldenses  into  two  classes,  The  poor  men  of  Lyons,  and 
the  poor  men  of  Lombardy.  The  former  rejected  and  pro- 
hibited all  sorts  of  possessions,  the  latter  looked  upon 
worldly  possessions  as  lawful.  This  distinction  may  be  also 
confirmed  by  several  passages  of  other  ancient  authors. 

(n)  For  an  account  of  these  obscurer  sects,  see  Stephanus 
de  Borbone,  in  Echardi  Scriptoribus  Dominicanis,  torn.  i.  p. 
191. 

(o)  The  origin  of  the  name  of  Pasagini,  or  Pasagii,  is  not 
known. 


128  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  fices,  was  obligatory  upon  Christians,  in  conse- 
i  Q1161106  °f  which  they  circumcised  their  followers, 
1  abstained  from  those  meats,  the  use  of  which  was 
prohibited  under  the  Mosaic  economy,  and  cele- 
brated the  Jewish  Sabbath.  The  second  tenet 
that  distinguished  this  sect  was  advanced  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  doctrine  of  three  persons  in  the  divine 
nature ;  for  the  Pasaginians  maintained  that  Christ 
was  no  more  than  the  first  and  purest  creature  of 
God  ;  nor  will  their  adopting  this  opinion  seem 
so  surprising,  if  we  consider  the  prodigious  number 
of  Arians  that  were  scattered  throughout  Italy, 
long  before  this  period  of  time  (p). 

The  Capu-  XV.  A  set  of  fanatics,  called  Caputiati,  from 
a  singular  kind  of  cap  that  was  the  badge  of  their 
faction,  infested  the  province  of  Burgundy,  the 
diocese  of  Auxerre,  and  several  other  parts  of 
France,  in  all  which  places  they  excited  much 
disturbance  among  the  people.  They  wore  upon 
their  caps  a  leaden  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
they  declared  publicly,  that  their  purpose  was  to 
level  all  distinctions,  to  abrogate  magistracy,  to 
remove  all  subordination  among  mankind,  and  to 
restore  that  primitive  liberty,  that  natural  equality 
that  were  the  inestimable  privileges  of  the  first 
mortals.  Hugo,  bishop  of  Auxerre,  attacked 
these  disturbers  of  human  society  in  the  proper 
manner,  employing  against  them  the  force  of 
arms,  instead  of  arguments  (^). 

The  sect  of  the  apostolics,  whom  St.  Bernard 
opposed  with  such  bitterness  and  fury,  and  who 
were  so  called,  as  that  zealous  abbot  himself  ac- 
knowledged, because  they  professed  to  exhibit  in 

(p)  See  F.  Bonacursi  Manifestatio  ha?resis  Catharorum, 
in  Luc.  Dacherii  Spicilegio  Veter.  Scriptor.  torn,  i,  p.  211. 
edit.  nov. — Gerhard.  Bergamensis  contra  Catbaros  et  Pasa- 
gios,  in  Lud.  Anton.  Muratorii,  Antiq.  Ital.  medii  aevi,  torn, 
v.  p.  151. 

(9)  Jac.  Le  Bceuf,  Mcmoires  sur  1'Histoire  d' Auxerre,  torn, 
i.  p.  317. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies. 

their  lives  and  manners,  the  piety  and  virtues  of  CENT. 
the  holy  apostles  were  very  different  from  the  PA*"'n 
audacious  heretics  now  mentioned.  They  were 
a  clownish  set  of  men,  of  the  lowest  birth,  who 
gained  their  subsistence  by  bodily  labour;  and  yet 
no  sooner  did  they  form  themselves  into  a  sect, 
than  they  drew  after  them  a  multitude  of  adhe- 
rents of  all  ranks  and  orders.  Their  religious 
doctrine,  as  St.  Bernard  confesses,  was  free  from 
error,  and  their  lives  and  manners  were  irreproach- 
able and  exemplary.  Yet  they  were  reprehensible, 
on  account  of  the  following  peculiarities  :  1 .  They 
held  it  unlawful  to  take  an  oath.  2.  They  suf- 
fered their  hair  and  their  beards  to  grow  to  an 
enormous  length,  so  that  their  aspect  was  inex- 
pressibly extravagant  and  savage.  3.  They  pre- 
ferred celibacy  before  wedlock,  and  called  them- 
selves the  chaste  brethren  and  sisters.  Notwith- 
standing which,  4.  Each  man  had  a  spiritual  sister 
with  him,  after  the  manner  of  the  apostles,  with 
whom  he  lived  in  a  domestic  relation,  lying  in 
the  same  chamber  with  her,  though  not  in  the 
same  bed  (7^). 

XVI.  In  the  council,  which  was  assembled  at  Eon,  & 
Rheims  in  the  year  1148,    and   at  which  Pope  J^jJ 
Eugenius  III.  presided,  a  certain  gentleman  of  the  fanatic. 
province  of  Bretagne,  whose  name  was  Eon,  and 
whose   brain  was,   undoubtedly,    disordered,  was 
condemned  for  pretending  to  be  the  Son  of  God. 
Having  heard,  in  the  form  that  was  used  for  exor- 
cising malignant  spirits,  these  words  pronounced  : 
per  Eum,  qui  venturus  est  judicare  vivos  et  mor- 
tuus,    he  concluded,   from  the  resemblance  that 
there  was  between  the  word  Eum,  and  his  name, 
that  he  was  the  person  who  was   to  come  and 
judge  both  quick  and  dead.    This  poor  man  should 

(r)  St.  Bernardus,  Sermo  Ixv.  in  Canticum,  torn.  iv.  Opp. 
p.  1495.  edit.  Mabillon. 

VOL.  III.  K 


130  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    rather  have  been  delivered  over  to  the  physicians 
PART  ii.  *nan  placed  in  the  list  of  heretics.     He  ended  his 

days  in  a  miserable  prison,  and  left  a  considerable 

number  of  followers  and  adherents,  whom  perse-* 
cution  and  death  in  the  most  dreadful  forms  could 
not  persuade  to  abandon  his  cause,  or  to  renounce 
an  absurdity,  which  one  would  think  could  never 
have  gained  credit,  but  in  such  a  place  as  Bed- 
lam (s).  This  remarkable  example  is  sufficient 
to  show,  not  only  the  astonishing  credulity  of  the 
stupid  multitude,  but  also  how  far  even  the  rulers 
of  the  church  were  destitute  of  judgment,  and 
strangers  to  the  knowledge  of  true  and  genuine 
religion. 

(s)  Matth.  Paris.  Historia  Major,  p.  68. — Guil.  Neubri- 
gensis,  Historia  rerum  Anglicarum,  lib.  i.  p.  50. — Boulay, 
Historia  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  241. 


THE 

THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 


PART  I. 

THE  EXTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  Prosperous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  THOUGH  the  successors  of  Gengiskan,  the  CENT. 
mighty  emperor  of  the  Tartars,  or  rather  of  the  XIIL 
Mogols,  had  carried  their  victorious  arms  through 


PART  I. 


a  great  part  of  Asia,  and  having  reduced  China,  The  state  of 
India,  and  Persia,  under  their  yoke,  involved  in  ^£1  north! 
many  calamities  and  sufferings  the  Christian ern.  Parts  °f 
assemblies  which  were  established  in  these  van- 
quished lands  (# ) ;  yet  we  learn  from  the  best 
accounts,  and  the  most  respectable  authorities, 
that  both  in  China,  and  in  the  northern  parts  of 
Asia,  the  Nestorians  continued  to  have  a  flourish- 
ing church,  and  a  great  number  of  adherents. 
The  emperors  of  the  Tartars  and  Mogols  had 
no  great  aversion  to  the  Christian  religion ;  nay, 
it  appears  from  authentic  records,  that  several 
kings  and  grandees  of  these  nations  had  either 
been  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel 
by  their  ancestors,  or  were  converted  to  Christi- 
anity by  the  ministry  and  exhortations  of  the 

(a)  Gregor.  Abulpharais,  Historia  Dynastiar.  p.  281. 

Kdi 
& 


132  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  Nestorians  (£).  But  the  religion  of  Mahomet, 
wnicn  was  so  adapted  to  flatter  the  passions  of 
men,  infected,  by  degrees,  these  noble  converts, 
opposed  with  success  the  progress  of  the  gospel, 
and,  in  process  of  time,  triumphed  over  it  so  far, 
that  not  the  least  glimpse  or  remains  of  Chris- 
tianity were  to  be  perceived  in  the  courts  of  these 
eastern  princes. 

A  papal  em-  U.  Xhe  Tartars  having  made  an  incursion 
to  tK  Tar"' into  Europe  in  the  year  1241,  and  having  laid 
ters-  waste,  with  the  most  unrelenting  and  savage  bar- 
barity, Hungary,  Poland,  Silesia,  and  the  adjacent 
countries,  the  Roman  pontiffs  thought  it  incum- 
bent upon  them  to  endeavour  to  calm  the  fury, 
and  soften  the  ferocity,  of  these  new  and  for- 
midable enemies.  For  this  purpose,  Innocent  IV. 
sent  an  embassy  to  the  Tartars,  which  consisted 
in  a  certain  number  of  Dominican  and  Franciscan 
friars  (c).  In  the  year  1 274,  Abaka,  the  emperor 
of  that  fierce  nation,  sent  ambassadors  to  the 
council  of  Lyons,  which  was  held  under  the  pon- 
tificate of  Gregory  X  (W).  About  four  years 
after  this,  Pope  Nicolas  III.  paid  the  same 
compliment  to  Coblai,  emperor  of  the  whole 
Tartar  nation,  to  whom  he  sent  a  solemn  em- 
bassy of  Franciscan  monks,  with  a  view  to  render 
that  prince  propitious  to  the  Christian  cause. 
The  last  expedition  of  this  kind  that  we  shall 
mention  at  present  was  that  of  Johannes  a 

(b)  See  Marc.  Paul.  Venetus,  De  Regionibus  Oriental,  lib. 
i.  c.  iv.  lib.  ii.  c.  vi. — Haytho  the  Armenian's  Histor.  Oriental, 
cap.  xix.  p.  35.  cap.  xxiii.  p.  39.  cap.  xxiv.  p.  41. — Jo.  Sims. 
Assemanni  Biblioth.  Orient.  Vatic,  torn.  III.  part  II.  p.  526. 
See  particularly  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Tartars, 
published  in  Latin  at  Helmstadt,  in  the  year  1741,  in  4to. 

(c)  See  Luc.  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iii.  p.  116. 
149.  175.  256. 

(d)  Wadding,  loc.  cit.  torn.  iv.  p.  35.  torn.  v.  p.  128.     See 
particularly  an  accurate  and  ample  account  of  the  negotia- 
tions that  passed  between  the  pontiffs  and  the  Tartars,  in  the 
Historia  Ecclesiastica  Tartarorum,  already  mentioned. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  133 

Monte  Corvino,  who  was  sent  in  company  with    CENT. 

PART  I. 


other  ecclesiastics  to  the  same  emperor,  by  Nico- 


las IV.  and  who  carried  letters  to  the  Nestorians 
from  that  zealous  pontiff.  This  mission  was  far 
from  being  useless,  since  these  spiritual  ambassa- 
dors converted  many  of  the  Tartars  to  Chris- 
tianity, engaged  considerable  numbers  of  the 
Nestorians  to  adopt  the  doctrine  and  discipline 
of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  erected  churches  in 
different  parts  of  Tartary  and  China.  In  order 
to  accelerate  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  among 
these  darkened  nations,  Johannes  a  Monte 
Corvino  translated  the  New  Testament  and  the 
Psalms  of  David  into  the  language  of  the  Tar- 
tars (e). 

III.  The  Roman  pontiffs  employed  their  most  Crusades 
zealous  and  assiduous  efforts  in  the  support  of  the  renewed- 
Christian  cause  in  Palestine,  which  was  now  in  a 
most  declining,  or  rather  in  a  desperate  state. 
They  had  learned,  by  a  delicious  experience,  how 
much  these  Asiatic  wars,  undertaken  from  a  prin- 
ciple, or  at  least  carried  on  under  a  pretext  of 
religion,  had  contributed  to  fill  their  coffers,  aug- 
ment their  authority,  and  cover  them  with  glory ; 
and  therefore  they  had  nothing  more  at  heart 
than  the  renewal  and  prolongation  of  these  sa- 
cred expeditions  (jf).  Innocent  III.  therefore, 
sounded  the  charge  ;  but  the  greatest  part  of  the 
European  princes  and  nations  were  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  the  holy  trumpet.  At  length,  however, 
after  many  unsuccessful  attempts  in  different 

(e)  Odor.  Raynaldus,  Annal.  Ecclesiastic,  tom.xiv.  ad  A. 
1278.  sect.  17.  p.  282.  et  ad  A.  1289.  sect.  59.  p.  4-19.  edit. 
Colon. — Pierre  Bergeron,  Traite  des  Tartares,  chap.  xi.  p.  61 . 
See  also  the  writers  mentioned  in  the  Historia  Ecclesiastica 
Tartarorum. 

(/)  This  is  remarked  by  the  writers  of  the  twelfth  century, 
who  had  soon  perceived  the  avaricious  and  despotic  views  of 
the  pontiffs,  in  the  encouragement  they  gave  to  the  crusades. 
See  Matth.  Paris,  Hist.  Major,  p.  174.  365.  et  passim. 


1B4  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    countries,    a   certain   number  of   French   nobles 
PART  i    en^ered    into    an    alliance  with    the   republic    of 

L  Venice,  and  set  sail  for  the  east  with  an  army  that 

was  far  from  being  formidable.  Besides,  the  event 
of  this  new  expedition  was  by  no  means  answer- 
able to  the  expectations  of  the  pontiff.  The 
French  and  Venetians,  instead  of  steering  their 
course  towards  Palestine,  sailed  directly  for  Con- 
stantinople, and  in  the  year  1203  took  that 
imperial  city  by  storm,  with  a  design  to  restore  to 
the  throne  Isaac  Angel  us,  who  implored  their 
succour  against  the  violence  of  his  brother 
Alexius,  who  had  usurped  the  empire.  The 
year  following,  a  dreadful  sedition  was  raised  at 
Constantinople,  in  which  the  emperor  Isaac  was 
put  to  death,  and  his  son,  the  young  Alexius, 
was  strangled  by  Alexius  Ducas  the  ringleader 
of  this  furious  faction  (g).  The  account  of  this 
parricide  no  sooner  came  to  the  ears  of  the  chiefs 
of  the  crusade,  than  they  made  themselves  masters 
of  Constantinople  for  the  second  time,  dethroned 
and  drove  from  the  city  the  tyrant  Ducas,  and 
elected  Baldwin,  count  of  Flanders,  emperor 
of  the  Greeks.  This  proceeding  was  a  source  of 
new  divisions ;  for  about  two  years  after  this  the 
Greeks  resolved  to  set  up,  in  opposition  to  this 
Latin  emperor,  one  of  their  own  nation,  and 
elected  for  that  purpose,  Theodore  Lascaris, 
who  chose  Nice  in  Bithynia  for  the  place  of  his 
imperial  residence.  From  this  period  until  the 
year  1261,  two  emperors  reigned  over  the  Greeks; 
the  one  of  their  own  nation,  who  resided  at  Nice ; 
and  the  other  of  Latin  or  French  extraction,  who 
lived  at  Constantinople,  the  ancient  metropolis 
of  the  empire.  But,  in  the  year  1261,  the  face 
of  things  was  changed  by  the  Grecian  emperor, 
Michael  Palaeologus,  who,  by  the  valour  and  stra- 

(g)  The  learned  authors  of  the  Universal  History  call 
this  ringleader,  by  mistake,  John  Ducas. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  135 

tagems  of  his   general,    Caesar  Alexius,   became    CENT. 
master  of  Constantinople,  and  forced  the  Latin  T™*\ 

emperor  Baldwin  II.   to  abandon  that  city,   and  _J 1 

save  himself  by  flight  in  Italy.  Thus  fell  the 
empire  of  the  Franks  at  Constantinople  after  a 
duration  of  fifty-seven  years  (/z). 

IV.  Another  sacred  expedition  was  undertaken  Another 
in  the  year  1217,  under  the  pontificate  of  Hono- 
rius  III.  by  the  confederate  anns  of  Italy  and 
Germany.  The  allied  army  was  commanded  in 
chief  by  Andrew,  king  of  Hungary,  who  was 
joined  by  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria,  Lewis  of 
Bavaria,  and  several  other  princes.  After  a  few 
months  absence,  Andrew  returned  into  Europe. 
The  remaining  chiefs  carried  on  the  war  with 
vigour,  and  in  the  year  1220,  made  themselves 
masters  of  Damietta,  the  strongest  city  in  Egypt ; 
but  their  prosperity  was  of  a  short  duration,  for 
the  year  following,  their  fleet  was  totally  ruined 
by  that  of  the  Saracens,  their  provisions  cut  off, 
and  their  army  reduced  to  the  greatest  straits  and 
difficulties.  This  irreparable  loss  was  followed  by 
that  of  Damietta,  which  blasted  all  their  hopes, 
and  removed  the  flattering  prospects  which  their 
successful  beginnings  had  presented  to  their  ex- 
pectations (i). 


(h)  See,  for  a  full  account  of  this  empire,  Du  Fresne,  His- 
toire  de  1'Empire  de  Constantinople  sous  les  Empereurs 
Francoise  j  in  the  former  part  of  which  we  find  the  Histoire 
de  la  Conquete  de  la  Ville  de  Constantinople  par  les  Fran- 
£ois,  written  by  Godfrey  de  Ville  Harduin,  one  of  the  French 
chiefs  concerned  in  the  expedition.  This  work  makes  a  part 
of  the  Byzantine  history.  See  also  Claude  Fontenay,  His- 
toire de  PEglise  Gallicane,  torn.  x.  p.  216. — Guntheri  Mo- 
nachi  Histor.  captae  a  Latinis  Constantinopoleos,  in  Henr. 
Canisii  Lectionis  Antiquae,  torn.  iv.  p.  1. — Innocentii  III. 
Epistol.  a  Baluzio  editas,  passim. 

(i)  See  Jac.  de  Vitriaco,  Histor.  Oriental,  et  Martin  Sanc- 
tus.  Secret,  fidel.  crucis  inter  Bongarsianos  de  sacris  bellis 
scriptores,  sen  gesta  Dei  per  Francos, 


The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        V.  The  leates  and  missionaries  of  the  court 
continued  to  animate  the  languish- 
ing  zeal  of  the  European  princes  in  behalf  of  the 


An  histori-  Christian  cause  in  Palestine,  and  to  revive  the 
thlluilr°f  spirit  of  crusading,  which  so  many  calamities  and 
crusades,  disasters  had  almost  totally  extinguished.  At 
their  order.  length,  in  consequence  of  their  lively  remon- 
strances, a  new  army  was  raised,  and  a  new  expe- 
dition undertaken,  which  excited  great  expecta- 
tions, and  drew  the  attention  of  Europe,  and  that 
so  much  the  more,  as  it  was  generally  believed, 
that  this  army  was  to  be  commanded  by  the 
emperor  Frederic  II.  That  prince  had,  indeed, 
obliged  himself  by  a  solemn  promise,  made  to  the 
Roman  pontiff,  to  take  upon  him  the  direction 
of  this  expedition  ;  and  what  added  a  new  degree 
of  force  to  this  engagement,  and  seemed  to 
render  the  violation  of  it  impossible,  was  the 
marriage  that  Frederic  had  contracted,  in  the 
year  1223,  with  Jolanda,  daughter  of  John, 
count  of  Brienne,  and  king  of  Jerusalem,  by 
which  alliance  that  kingdom  was  to  be  added  to 
his  European  dominions.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
all  this,  the  emperor  put  off  his  voyage  from 
time  to  time  under  various  pretexts,  and  did  not 
set  out  until  the  year  1228,  when,  after  having 
been  excommunicated  on  account  of  his  delay, 
by  the  incensed  pontiff  Gregory  IX  (7t¥),  he  fol- 


(k)  This  papal  excommunication^  which  was  drawn 
up  in  the  most  outrageous  and  indecent  language,  was  so 
far  from  exciting  Frederic  to  accelerate  his  departure  for 
Palestine,  that  it  produced  no  effect  upon  him  at  all,  and 
was,  on  the  contrary,  received  with  the  utmost  contempt. 
He  defended  himself  by  his  ambassadors  at  Rome,  and  showed 
that  the  reasons  of  his  delay  were  solid  and  just,  and  not 
mere  pretexts,  as  the  pope  had  pretended.  At  the  same 
time,  he  wrote  a  remarkable  letter  to  Henry  III.  king  of 
England,  in  which  he  complains  of  the  insatiable  avarice, 
the  boundless  ambition,  the  perfidious  and  hypocritical  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Roman  pontiffs.  See  Fleury,  Histoire 
Ecclesiastique,  livr.  Ixxix.  torn.  xvi.  p.  601.  edit.  Bruxelles. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  137 

lowed  with  a  small  train  of  attendants  the  troops,    CENT. 
who  expected,  with  the  most  anxious  impatience,     XIIL 

,   .  .r    i    .        V»    i  -VT  Till          i.  •         PART   I. 

his  arrival  in  1  alestme.    No  sooner  did  he  land  in 

that  disputed  kingdom  than,  instead  of  carrying 
on  the  war  with  vigour,  he  turned  all  his  thoughts 
towards  peace,  and,  without  consulting  the  other 
princes  and  chiefs  of  the  crusade,  concluded,  in 
the  year  1229,  a  treaty  of  peace,  or  rather  a  truce 
of  ten  years,  with  Melic-Camel,  sultan  of  Egypt. 
The  principal  thing  stipulated  in  this  treaty  was, 
that  Frederic  should  be  put  in  possession  of  the 
city  and  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  :  this  condition 
was  immediately  executed ;  and  the  emperor, 
entering  into  the  city  with  great  pomp,  and  accom- 
panied by  a  numerous  train,  placed  the  crown 
upon  his  head  with  his  own  hands  ;  and,  having 
thus  settled  matters  in  Palestine,  he  returned 
without  delay  into  Italy,  to  appease  the  discords 
and  commotions  which  the  vindictive  and  am- 
bitious pontiff  had  excited  there  in  his  absence. 
So  that,  in  reality,  notwithstanding  all  the  re- 
proaches that  were  cast  upon  the  emperor  by  the 
pope  and  his  creatures,  this  expedition  was  by 
far  the  most  successful  of  any  that  had  been  yet 
undertaken  against  the  infidels  (/). 

VI.  The  expeditions  that  followed  this  were 
less  important  and  also  less  successful.  In  the 
year  1239,  Theobald  VI.  (m)  count  of  Cham- 
pagne and  king  of  Navarre,  set  out  from  Mar- 
seilles for  the  Holy  Land,  accompanied  by  se- 
veral French  and  German  princes,  as  did  also,  the 
year  following,  Richard,  earl  of  Cornwal,  brother 
to  Henry  III.  king  of  England.  The  issue  of 

(/)  See  the  writers  that  have  composed  the  History  of  the 
Holy  Wars,  and  of  the  Life  and  Exploits  of  Frederic  II. 
See  also  Muratori  Annales  Italiae,  and  the  various  authors  of 
the  Germanic  History. 

fig*  (m)  Dr.Mosheim  calls  him,  by  a  mistake,  Theobald  V. 
unless  we  are  to  attribute  this  fault  to  an  error  of  the  press. 


138  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  these  two  expeditions  was  by  no  means  answer- 
a^e  to  t^ie  preparations  which  were  made  to  ren- 
der  them  successful.  The  former  failed  through 
the  influence  of  the  emperor's  (72)  ambassadors  in 
Palestine,  who  renewed  the  truce  with  the  Maho- 
metans ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  a  consider- 
able body  of  Christians  were  defeated  at  Gaza, 
and  such  as  escaped  the  carnage  returned  into 
Europe.  This  fatal  event  was  principally  owing 
to  the  discords  that  reigned  between  the  templars 
and  the  knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem.  Hence 
it  came  to  pass,  that  the  arrival  of  Richard, 
which  had  been  industriously  retarded  by  Gre- 
gory IX.  and  which  had  revived,  in  some  degree, 
the  hopes  of  the  vanquished,  was  ineffectual  to 
repair  their  loss ;  and  all  that  this  prince  could 
do  was  to  enter,  with  the  consent  of  the  allies, 
into  a  truce  upon  as  good  conditions  as  the  declin- 
ing state  of  their  affairs  would  admit  of.  This 
truce  was  accordingly  concluded  with  the  sultan 
of  Egypt  in  the  year  1244,  after  which  Richard 
immediately  set  sail  for  Europe  (o). 

The  expedu  VII.  The  affairs  of  the  Christians  in  the  east 
declined  from  day  to  day.  Intestine  discords  and 
ill-conducted  expeditions  had  reduced  them 
almost  to  the  last  extremity,  when  Lewis  IX. 
king  of  France,  who  was  canonised  after  his 
death,  and  is  still  worshipped  with  the  utmost 
devotion,  attempted  their  restoration.  It  was  in 

Ifglf3  (n)  Frederic  II.  who  had  still  a  great  party  in  Pale- 
stine, and  did  not  act  in  concert  with  the  clergy  and  the 
creatures  of  his  bitter  enemy,  Gregory  IX.  from  which  divi- 
sion the  Christian  cause  suffered  much. 

(0)  All  these  circumstances  are  accurately  related  and 
illustrated  by  the  learned  George  Christ.  Gebaverus,  in  his 
Historia  Richardi  Imperatoris,  lib.  i.  p.  34. — It  appears  how- 
ever by  the  Epistolae  Petri  de  Vineis,  that  Richard  was  created 
by  Frederic  II.  his  lord-lieutenant  of  the  kingdom  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  this  furnishes  a  probable  reason  why  Gregory  IX. 
used  all  possible  means  to  retard  Richard's  voyage. 


PART  I. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  139 

consequence  of  a  vow,  which  this  prince  had  CENT. 
made  in  the  year  1248,  when  he  was  seized  with 
a  painful  and  dangerous  illness,  that  he  under- 
took this  arduous  task,  and,  in  the  execution  of 
it,  he  set  sail  for  Egypt  with  a  formidable  army 
and  a  numerous  fleet,  from  a  notion  that  the  con- 
quest of  this  province  would  enable  him  to  carry 
on  the  war  in  Syria,  and  Palestine,  with  more 
facility  and  success.  The  first  attempts  of  the 
zealous  monarch  were  crowned  with  victory ;  for 
Damietta,  that  famous  Egyptian  city,  yielded  to 
his  arms ;  but  the  smiling  prospect  was  soon 
changed,  and  the  progress  of  the  war  presented 
one  uniform  scene  of  calamity  and  desolation. 
The  united  horrors  of  famine  and  pestilence, 
overwhelmed  the  royal  army,  whose  provisions 
were  cut  off  by  the  Mahometans,  in  the  year 
1 250 ;  Robert,  earl  of  Artois,  the  king's  own 
brother,  having  surprised  the  Saracen  army,  and, 
through  an  excess  of  valour,  pursued  them  too 
far,  was  slain  in  the  engagement ;  and,  a  few 
days  after,  the  king  himself,  with  two  more  of 
his  brothers  (p),  and  the  greatest  part  of  his 
army,  were  taken  prisoners  in  a  bloody  action, 
after  a  bold  and  obstinate  resistance.  This  valiant 
monarch,  who  was  endowed  with  true  greatness 
of  mind,  and  who  was  extremely  pious,  though 
after  the  manner  that  prevailed  in  this  age  of 
superstition  and  darkness,  was  ransomed  at  an 
immense  price  (<?),  and  after  having  spent  about 

Ijgg0  (p)  Alphonsus  earl  of  Poitiers,  and  Charles  earl  of 
Anjou. 

Bgg°  (q)  The  ransom,  which,  together  with  the  restoration 
of  Damietta,  the  king  was  obliged  to  pay  for  his  liberty,  was 
eight  hundred  thousand  gold  bezants,  and  not  eighty  thou- 
sand, as  Collier  erroneously  reckons  *.  This  sum,  which  was 
equal  then  to  500,000  livres  of  French  money,  would,  in  our 
days,  amount  to  the  value  of  four  millions  of  livres,  that  is, 
to  about  190,000  pounds  sterling. 

*  See  Collier's  Eccles.  Histor.  Cent.  xiii.  vol.  i.  p.  456. 


140  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    four  years  in  Palestine,  returned  into  France,  in 
i    the  year  1254,   with  a  handful  of  men  (r),   the 


XIII. 

PART 


miserable  remains  of  his  formidable  army. 


A  second  VIII.  No  calamities  could  deject  the  courage 
dertakenUby  nor  damp  the  invincible  spirit  of  Lewis ;  nor 
the  same  did  ne  look  upon  his  vow  as  fulfilled  by  what  he 
had  already  done  in  Palestine.  He  therefore  f*e- 
solved  upon  a  new  expedition,  fitted  out  a  formid- 
able fleet  with  which  he  set  sail  for  Africa, 
accompanied  by  a  splendid  train  of  princes  and 
nobles,  and  proposed  to  begin  in  that  part  of  the 
world  his  operations  against  the  infidels,  that  he 
might  either  convert  them  to  the  Christian  faith, 
or  draw  from  their  treasures  the  means  of  carry- 
ing on  more  effectually  the  war  in  Asia.  Imme- 
diately after  his  arrival  upon  the  African  coast, 
he  made  himself  master  of  the  fort  of  Carthage ; 
but  this  first  success  was  soon  followed  by  a  fatal 
change  in  his  affairs.  A  pestilential  disease  broke 
out  in  the  fleet,  in  the  harbour  of  Tunis,  carried 
off  the  greatest  part  of  the  army,  and  siezed,  at 
length,  the  monarch  himself,  who  fell  a  victim 
to  its  rage,  on  the  25th  of  August,  in  the  year 
1270  (s).  Lewis  was  the  last  of  the  European 
princes  that  embarked  in  the  holy  war ;  the 
dangers  and  difficulties,  the  calamities  and  dis- 

(r)  Of  2800  illustrious  knights,  who  set  out  with  Lewis 
from  France,  there  remained  about  a  hundred  when  he  sailed 
from  Palestine.  See  Joinville's  Hist,  de  S.  Louis  IX.  p.  81. 

(«)  Among  the  various  histories  that  deserve  to  be  con- 
sulted for  an  ampler  account  of  this  last  crusade,  the  prin- 
cipal place  is  due  to  the  Histoire  de  S.  Louis  IX.  du  nom, 
Roy  de  France,  ecrite  par  Jean  Sr.  de  Joinville,  enrichie  de 
nouvelles  Dissertations  et  Observations  Historiques,  par 
Charles  du  Fresne,  Paris,  1668,  Fol.  See  also  Filleau  de  la 
Chaize,  Histoire  de  S.  Louis,  Paris,  1688,  2  vol.  in  8vo. — 
Menconis  Chronicon,  in  Ant.  Matthaei  Analectis  veteris  sevi, 
torn.  iii.  p.  172.  179. — Luc.  Wadding!  Annales  Minorum, 
torn.  iv.  p.  294.  307.  et  passim. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris, 
torn.  iii.  p.  212.  392.  &c. — Pierre  Claude  Fontenay,  Histoire 
de  1'Eglise  Gallicane,  torn.  xi.  p.  337.  4-05.  575. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  141 

orders,   and  tlie  enormous  expenses  that  accom-    CENT. 
panied  each  crusade,  disgusted  the  most  zealous,     XIII< 

i      -i  •  1        1  •  •  n  r*    PART   I* 

and  discouraged  the  most  intrepid  promoters  of 

these  fanatical  expeditions.  In  consequence  of 
this,  the  Latin  empire  in  the  east  declined  apace, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  the  Roman  pontiffs 
to  maintain  and  support  it;  and  in  the  year  1291, 
after  the  taking  of  Ptolomais,  or  Acra,  by  the 
Mahometans,  it  was  entirely  overthrown  (/).  It 
is  natural  to  inquire  into  the  true  causes  that  con- 
tributed to  this  unhappy  revolution  in  Palestine  ; 
and  these  causes  are  evident.  We  must  not  seek 
for  them  either  in  the  councils  or  in  the  valour  of 
the  infidels,  but  in  the  dissensions  that  reigned  in 
the  Christian  armies,  in  the  profligate  lives  of 
those,  who  called  themselves  the  champions  of  the 
cross,  and  in  the  ignorance  and  obstinacy,  the 
avarice  and  insolence  of  the  pope's  legates. 

IX.  Christianity  as  yet  had  not  tamed  the  fero-  Conversion 
city,  nor  conquered  the  pagan  superstitions  and  of  the  Prus* 
prejudices,  that  still  prevailed  in  some  of  the 
western  provinces.  Among  others,  the  Prussians, 
a  fierce  and  savage  nation,  retained  still  the  ido- 
latrous worship  of  their  ancestors  with  the  most 
obstinate  perseverance  ;  nor  did  the  arguments 
and  exhortations  employed  by  the  missionaries 
that  were  sent  among  them,  from  time  to  time, 
produce  the  least  effect  upon  their  stubborn  and 
intractable  spirits.  The  brutish  firmness  of  these 
pagans  induced  Conrad,  duke  of  Massovia,  to  have 
recourse  to  more  forcible  methods  than  reason  and 
argument,  in  order  to  bring  about  their  conversion. 
For  this  purpose,  he  addressed  himself,  in  the 
year  1230,  to  the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  order 
of  St.  Mary,  who,  after  their  expulsion  from  Pa- 

(t)  Ant.  Matthaei  Analecta  veteris  aevi,  torn.  v.  p.  748. — 
Jac.  Echardi  Scriptores  Dominican!,  torn.  i.  p.  4-22. — Imola 
in  Dantem,  in  Muratori  Antiq.  Italicae  medii  aevi,  torn.  i.  p. 


sums. 


142  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  lestine,  had  settled  at  Venice,  and  engaged  them, 
^7  pompous  promises,  to  undertake  the  conquest 
and  conversion  of  the  Prussians.  The  knights 
accordingly  arrived  in  Prussia,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Herman  de  Saltza,  and  after  a  most 
cruel  and  obstinate  war,  of  fifty  years  standing, 
with  that  resolute  people,  obliged  them,  with  diffi- 
culty, to  acknowledge  the  Teutonic  order  for 
their  sovereigns,  and  to  embrace  the  Christian 
faith  (?/).  After  having  established  Christianity, 
and  fixed  their  own  dominion  in  Prussia,  these 
booted  apostles  made  several  excursions  into  the 
neighbouring  countries,  and  particularly  into  Li- 
thuania, where  they  pillaged,  burned,  massacred, 
and  ruined  all  before  them,  until  they  forced  the 
inhabitants  of  that  miserable  province  to  profess  a 
feigned  submission  to  the  gospel,  or  rather  to  the 
furious  and  unrelenting  missionaries,  by  whom  it 
was  propagated  in  a  manner  so  contrary  to  its 
divine  maxims,  and  to  the  benevolent  spirit  of  its 
celestial  author  (w;). 

ofthe  X.  In  Spain  the  cause  of   the  gospel   gained 

Arabians  ground  from  day  to  day.  The  kings  of  Castile, 
in  Spam.  Leon,  Navarre,  and  Arragon,  waged  perpetual 
war  with  the  Saracen  princes,  who  held  still  under 
their  dominion  the  kingdoms  of  Valentia,  Gra- 
nada, and  Murcia,  together  with  the  province  of 
Andalusia ;  and  this  war  was  carried  on  with  such 
success,  that  the  Saracen  dominion  declined  apace, 

(w)  See  Matthsei  Analecta  vet.  sevi,  torn.  iii.  p.  18.  torn.  v. 
p.  684- — 689. — Petri  de  Duisburgh,  Chronicon.  Prussiae, 
published  by  Hartknochius  at  Jena,  in  the  year  1 679. — 
Christoph.  Hartknochius,  his  History  ofthe  Prussian  Church, 
written  in  the  German  language,  book  I.  ch.  i.  p.  33.  and 
Antiquitates  Prussiae,  Diss.xiv.  p.  201. — Baluzii  Miscellanea, 
torn.  vii.  p.  427.  478. — Waddingi,  Annales  Minor,  torn.  iv. 
p.  4-0.  63.  Solignac,  Histoire  de  Pologne,  torn.  ii.  p.  238. 

(w)  Besides  the  authors  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note, 
see  Ludwcgii  Reliquae  Manuscriptorum  omnis  cevi,  torn.  i.  p. 
336. 


PART  I. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  143 

and  was  daily  reduced  within  narrower  bounds,  CENT. 
while  the  limits  of  the  church  were  extended  on 
every  side.  The  princes  that  contributed  princi-  . 
pally  to  this  happy  revolution  were  Ferdinand, 
king  of  Leon  and  Castile,  who,  after  his  death, 
obtained  a  place  in  the  Kalendar,  his  father  Al- 
phonsus  IX.  king  of  Leon,  and  James  I.  king  of 
Arragon  (#).  The  latter,  more  especially,  di- 
stinguished himself  eminently  by  his  fervent  zeal 
for  the  advancement  of  Christianity  ;  for  no 
sooner  had  he  made  himself  master  of  Valentia,  in 
the  year  1236,  than  he  employed,  with  the  great- 
est pains  and  assiduity,  every  possible  method  of 
converting  to  the  faith  his  Arabian  subjects,  whose 
expulsion  would  have  been  an  irreparable  loss  to 
his  kingdom.  For  this  purpose  he  ordered  the 
Dominicans,  whose  ministry  he  made  use  of  prin- 
cipally in  this  salutary  work,  to  learn  the  Arabic 
tongue  ;  and  he  founded  public  schools  at  Ma- 
jorca and  Barcelona,  in  which  a  considerable 
number  of  youths  were  educated  in  a  manner 
that  might  enable  them  to  preach  the  gospel  in 
that  language.  When  these  pious  efforts  were 
found  to  be  ineffectual,  the  Roman  pontiff  Cle- 
ment IV.  exhorted  the  king  to  drive  the  Maho- 
metans out  of  Spain.  The  obsequious  prince 
followed  the  counsel  of  the  inconsiderate  pontiff; 
in  the  execution  of  which,  however,  he  met  with 
much  difficulty,  both  from  the  opposition  which 
the  Spanish  nobles  made  to  it  on  the  one  hand, 
and  from  the  obstinacy  of  the  Moors  on  the 
other 


(x)  See  Job.  Ferreras,  History  of"  Spain,  vol.  iv. 
(#)  See  Geddes,  his  History  of  the  Expulsion  of  the  Mo- 
riscoes,  in  his  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  vol.  i.  p.  26. 


144  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Calamitous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

CENT.  I.  THE  accounts  we  have  already  given  of  the 
con(luests  °f  tne  Tartars,  and  of  the  unhappy 
issue  of  the  crusades,  will  be  sufficient  to  give  us 


PART 


The  un-  a  lively  idea  of  the  melancholy  condition  to  which 
of ^he affairs tne  Christians  were  reduced  in  Asia;  and  had 
of  the  the  Saracens  been  infected  with  the  same  odious 
spirit  of  persecution  that  possessed  the  crusaders, 
there  would  not  perhaps  have  remained  a  single 
Christian  in  that  part  of  the  world.  But  though 
these  infidels  were  chargeable  with  various  crimes, 
and  had  frequently  treated  the  Christians  in  a 
rigorous  and  injurious  manner,  yet  they  looked 
with  horror  upon  those  scenes  of  persecution, 
which  the  Latins  exhibited  as  the  exploits  of 
heroic  piety,  and  considered  it  as  the  highest  and 
most  atrocious  mark  of  cruelty  and  injustice  to 
force  unhappy  men,  by  fire  and  sword,  to  abandon 
their  religious  principles,  or  to  put  them  to  death 
merely  because  they  refused  to  change  their 
opinions.  After  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem,  many  of  the  Latins  remained  still  in 
Syria,  and  retiring  into  the  dark  and  solitary  re- 
cesses of  mount  Liban,  lived  there  in  a  savage 
manner,  and  lost,  by  degrees,  all  sense  both  of  reli- 
gion and  humanity,  as  appears  in  the  conduct  and 
character  of  their  descendants,  who  still  inhabit  the 
same  uncultivated  wilds,  and  who  seem  almost 
entirely  destitute  of  all  knowledge  of  God  and 
religion  (#). 

(2)  A  certain  tribe  called  Derusi,  or  Drusi,  who  inhabit 
the  recesses  of  the  mounts  Liban  and  Antiliban,  pretend  to 
descend  from  the  ancient  Franks,  who  were  once  masters  of 
Palestine.  This  derivation  is,  indeed,  doubtful.  It  is  however 


CHAP.  ii.  Calamitous  Events. 

II.  The  Latin  writers  of  this  age  complain  in    CENT. 
many  places  of  the  growth  of  infidelity,  of  daring    PART  \ 

and  licentious  writers,  some  of  whom   attacked 

publicly  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  while  others 


went  so  far  as  atheistically  to  call  in  question  the  and  atheism 
perfections  and  government  of  the  Supreme  Beinp;.  "mo.ng the 

1  i    •  i  i  •    i       i  i  Latins. 

.These  complaints,  however  they  might  have  been 
exaggerated  in  some  respects,  were  yet  far  from 
being  entirely  destitute  of  foundation  ;  and  the 
superstition  of  the  times  was  too  naturally  adapted 
to  create  a  number  of  infidels  and  libertines 
among  men  who  had  more  capacity  than  judg- 
ment, more  wit  than  solidity.  Persons  of  this 
character,  when  they  fixed  their  attention  only 
upon  that  absurd  system  of  religion,  which  the 
Roman  pontiffs  and  their  dependents  exhibited  as 
the  true  religion  of  Christ,  and  maintained  by  the 
odious  influence  of  bloody  persecution,  were,  for 
want  of  the  means  of  being  better  instructed,  un- 
happily led  to  consider  the  Christian  religion  as  a 
fable  invented  and  propagated  by  a  greedy  and 
ambitious  priesthood,  in  order  to  fill  their  coffers, 
and  to  render  their  authority  respectable.  The 
philosophy  of  Aristotle,  which  flourished  in  all 
the  European  schools,  and  was  looked  upon  as  the 
very  essence  of  right  reason,  contributed  much  to 
support  this  delusion,  and  to  nourish  a  proud  and 
presumptuous  spirit  of  infidelity.  This  quibbling 
and  intricate  philosophy  led  many  to  reject  some 
of  the  most  evident  and  important  doctrines  both 
of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  such  as  the  doc- 
trine of  a  divine  providence  governing  the  uni- 
verse, the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  scripture 
account  of  the  origin  of  the  world,  and  other 
points  of  less  moment.  These  doctrines  were  not 

certain  that  there  still  remain  in  these  countries  descendants 
of  those,  whom  the  holy  war  brought  from  Europe  into  Pa- 
lestine ;  though  they  do  ver.y  little  honour  to  their  ancestors, 
and  have  nothing  of  Christians  but  the  name. 

VOL.    III.  L 


146  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

^m'    ?nty  reJected,  but  the  most  pernicious  errors  were 
PARTI,  industriously  propagated  in  opposition  to  them, 

by  a  set  of  Aristotelians,  who  were   extremely 

active   in    gaining    proselytes    to    their    impious 
jargon  (a). 

Frederic  ii.      III.    If  the  accusations  brought  against  Fre- 
£puiety.°f  deric  II.  by  the  Roman  pontiff  Gregory  IX.  de- 
serve any  credit,  that  prince  may  be  ranked  among 
the  most  inveterate   and   malignant    enemies   of 

(a)  See  Sti.  Thomas  Summa  contra  gentes,  and  Bernhardi 
Monetae  Summa  contra  Catharos  et  Waldenses.  This  latter 
writer,  in  the  work  now  mentioned,  combats,  with  great 
spirit,  the  enemies  of  Christianity  which  appeared  in  his 
time.  In  the  fourth  chapter  of  the  fifth  book,  p.  416.  he 
disputes,  in  an  ample  and  copious  manner,  against  those  who 
affirmed,  that  the  soul  perished  with  the  body ;  refutes,  in 
the  eleventh  chapter,  p.  477.  those  Aristotelian  philosophers, 
who  held,  that  the  world  had  existed  from  all  eternity,  and 
would  never  have  an  end ;  and,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter,  p. 
554.  he  attacks  those,  who  despising  the  authority  of  the 
sacred  writings,  deny  the  existence  of  human  liberty,  and 
maintain  that  all  things,  and  even  the  crimes  of  the  wicked, 
are  the  effects  of  an  absolute  and  irresistible  necessity.  Add 
to  these  authors,  Stephani  Tempierii,  Episcopi  Parisiensis, 
Indiculus  errorum,  qui  a  nonnullis  Magistris  Lut.etise  publice 
privatimque  docebantur,  Anno  1277.  in  Bibliotheca  Patrum 
Maxima,  torn.  xxv.  p.  233 ;  as  also  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad. 
Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  433.  and  Gerard  duBois,  Hist.  Eccles.  Pa- 
ris, torn.  ii.  p.  501.  The  tenets  of  these  doctors  will,  no 
doubt,  appear  of  a  surprising  nature;  for  they  taught,  "  that 
there  was  only  one  intellect  among  all  the  human  race ;  that 
all  things  were  subject  to  absolute  fate  or  necessity  ;  that  the 
universe  was  not  governed  by  a  divine  providence  ;  that  the 
world  was  eternal,  and  the  soul  mortal ;"  and  they  main- 
tained these  and  such  like  monstrous  errors,  by  arguments 
drawn  from  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle.  But,  at  the  same 
time,  to  avoid  the  just  resentment  of  the  people,  they  held 
up,  as  a  buckler  against  their  adversaries,  that  most  dan- 
gerous and  pernicious  distinction  between  theological  and 
philosophical  truth,  which  has  been  since  used,  with  the 
utmost  cunning  and  bad  faith,  by  the  more  recent  Aristote- 
lians of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries.  <f  These 
things,  said  they,  (as  we  learn  from  Stephen  Tempier)  are 
true  in  philosophy,  but  not  according  to  the  catholic  faith." 
Vera  sunt  hsec  secundum  philosophum,  non  secundum  fidem 
catholicam. 


CHAP.  ir.  Calamitous  Events. 

the  Christian  religion,  since  he  was  charged  by  CENT. 
Gregory  with  having  said,  that  the  world  had 
been  deceived  by  three  impostors,  Moses,  Christ, 
and  Mahomet  (£).  This  charge  was  answered  by 
a  solemn  and  public  profession  of  his  faith,  which 
the  emperor  addressed  to  all  the  kings  and  princes 
of  Europe,  to  whom  also  had  been  addressed  the 
accusation  brought  against  him  by  the  pontiff*. 
The  accusation,  however,  was  founded  upon  the 
testimony  of  Henry  Raspon,  landgrave  of  Thu- 
ringia,  who  declared  that  he  had  heard  the  em- 
peror pronounce  the  abominable  blasphemy  above- 
mentioned  (c).  It  is,  after  all,  difficult  to  decide 
with  sufficient  evidence  concerning  the  truth  of 
this  fact.  Frederic,  who  was  extremely  passionate 
and  imprudent,  may,  perhaps,  in  a  fit  of  rage, 
have  let  some  such  expression  as  this  escape  his 
reflection,  and  this  is  rendered  probable  enough 
by  the  company  he  frequented,  and  the  number  of 
learned  Aristotelians  that  were  always  about  his 
person,  and  might  suggest  matter  enough  for  such 
impious  expressions,  as  that  now  under  considera- 
tion. It  was  this  affair  that  gave  occasion,  in 
after-times,  to  the  invention  of  that  fabulous 
account  (d),  which  supposes  the  detestable  book 
Concerning  the  three  Impostors,  to  have  been 
composed  by  the  emperor  himself ;  or,  by  Peter 
de  Vineis,  a  native  of  Capua,  a  man  of  great 
credit  and  authority,  whom  that  prince  (e)  had 

(&)  Matth.  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  408.  459. — Pctr.  de 
Vineis  Epistolarum  lib.  i. 

(c)  Herm.  Gygantis  Flores'Temporum,  p.  126. — Chr.  Frid. 
Ayrmann  Sylloge  Anecdotor.  torn.  i.  p.  639. 

('/)  See  Casim.  Oudini  Comment,  de  Scriptoribus  Ecclc- 
siasticis,  torn.  iii.  p.  6S. — Alb.  Henr.  de  Sallengre,  Memoires 
d'Histoire  et  de  Litterature,  torn.  i.  part  I.  p.  386. 

fHf0  (e)  The  book  entitled  Liber  de  in  Impostoribus, 
sive  Tractates  de  Vanitate  Religionum,  is  really  a  book 
which  had  no  existence  at  the  time  that  the  most  noise  was 
made  about  it,  and  was  spoken  of  by  multitudes  before  it 


J4S  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    chosen  for  his  prime  minister,  and  in  whom  he 
"'f    placed  the  highest  confidence. 


XIII. 

PART 


had  been  seen  by  any  one  person.  Its  supposed  existence 
was  probably  owing  to  an  impious  saying  of  Simon  of  Tour- 
nay,  doctor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Paris  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  which  amounts  to  this,,  "  That  the  Jews  were 
seduced  out  of  their  senses  by  Moses,  the  Christians  by 
Jesus,  and  the  Gentiles  by  Mahomet."  This,  or  some  ex- 
pressions of  a  similar  kind,  were  imputed  to  the  emperor 
Frederic,  and  other  persons,  and  that  perhaps  without  any 
real  foundation ;  and  the  imaginary  book,  to  which  they  have 
given  rise,  has  been  attributed  by  different  authors  to  Fre- 
deric, to  his  chancellor  Peter  de  Vineis,  to  Alphonso,  king 
of  Castile,  to  Boccace,  Pogge,  the  Aretins,  Pomponace, 
Machiavel,  Erasmus,  Ochinus,  Servetus,  Rabelais,  Giordano, 
Bruno,  Campanella,  and  many  others.  In  a  word,  the  book 
was  long  spoken  of  before  any  such  work  existed ;  but  the 
rumour  that  was  spread  abroad  encouraged  some  profligate 
traders  in  licentiousness  to  compose,  or  rather  compile  a 
bundle  of  miserable  rhapsodies,  under  the  famous  title  of  the 
Three  Impostors,  in  order  to  impose  upon  such  as  are  fond 
of  these  pretended  rarities.  Accordingly,  the  Spaccio  della 
Bestia  Triomphante  of  Giordano  Bruno,  and  a  wretched  piece 
of  impiety  called  the  Spirit  of  Spinoza,  were  the  ground-work 
of  materials  from  whence  these  hireling  compilers,  by  modi- 
fying some  passages,  and  adding  others,  drew  the  book 
which  now  passes  under  the  name  of  the  Three  Impostors, 
of  which  I  have  seen  two  copies  in  manuscript,  but  no 
printed  edition.  See  La  Monnoye's  Dissertatione  sur  le 
Livre  de  in  Imposteurs,  published  at  Amsterdam  in  1715, 
at  the  end  of  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Menagiana.  See  also 
an  Answer  to  this  Dissertation,  which  was  impudently  ex- 
posed to  the  public  eye,  in  1716,  from  the  press  of  Scheur- 
leer  in  the  Hague,  and  which  contains  a  fabulous  story  of 
the  origin  of  the  book  in  question.  Whoever  is  desirous  of 
a  more  ample  and  a  very  curious  account  of  this  matter,  will 
find  it  in  the  late  Prosper  Merchand's  Dictionnaire  Histo- 
rique,  vol.  ii.  at  the  article  Impostoribus. 


149 
PART  II. 

THE  INTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  State  of  Learning  and  Philosophy 
during  this  Century. 

I.  THE  Greeks,  amidst  the  dreadful  calamities,  CENT. 
discords,  and  revolutions,  that  distracted  and  per-  l11' 
plexed  their  unhappy  country,  had  neither  that 


PAHT 


spirit,  nor  that  leisure,  that  are  necessary  to  the  The  ftate  of 
culture  of  the  arts  and  sciences.  Yet,  under  all  amon^he 
these  disadvantages,  they  still  retained  a  certain  Gret*s- 
portion  of  their  former  spirit,  and  did  not  entirely 
abandon  the  cause  of  learning  and  philosophy,  as 
appears  by  the  writers  that  arose  among  them 
during  this  century.  Their  best  historians  were 
Nicetas,  Choniates,  Georgius  Acropolita,  Grego- 
rius  Pachymeres,  and  Joel,  whose  Chronology  is 
yet  extant.  "We  learn  from  the  writings  of 
Gregory  Pachymeres,  and  Nicephorus  Blemmida, 
that  the  Peripatetic  philosophy  was  not  without 
its  admirers  among  the  Greeks  ;  though  the  Pla- 
tonic was  most  in  vogue.  The  greatest  part  of 
the  Grecian  philosophers,  following  the  example 
of  the  later  Platonists,  whose  works  were  the 
subject  of  their  constant  meditation,  inclined  to 
reduce  the  wisdom  of  Plato,  and  the  subtilties  of 
the  Stagirite  into  one  system,  and  to  reconcile,  as 
well  as  they  could,  their  jarring  principles.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  exhibit  a  list  of  those  authors, 
who  wrote  the  lives  and  discourses  of  the  saints, 
or  distinguished  themselves  in  the  controversy 
with  the  Latin  church,  or  of  those  who  employed 


150  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  their  learned  labours  in  illustrating  the  canon  law 
uu^i'i  °^  ^e  Greeks.  The  principal  Syrian  writer, 
which  this  century  produced,  was  Gregory  Abul 
Farai,  primate  of  the  Jacobites,  a  man  of  true 
genius  and  universal  learning,  who  was  a  judi- 
cious divine,  an  eminent  historian,  and  a  good 
philosopher  (a).  George  Elmacin,  who  composed 
the  history  of  the  Saracens,  was  also  a  writer  of 
no  mean  reputation. 


Tre!sPo?"         ^'   ^e  sciences  carried  a  fairer  aspect  in  the 

Sing  in  western  world,  where  every  branch  of  erudition 

thevrest.     was    cultivated  with  assiduity  and  zeal,   and,   of 

consequence,   flourished,  with  increasing  vigour, 

from    day   to    day.       The    European   kings    and 

princes  had  learned,  by  a  happy  experience,  how 

much  the  advancement  of  learning  and  arts  con- 

(a)  See  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Abulpharage;  as 
also  Jos.  Sim.  Assemanni  Biblioth.  Oriental.  Vatican,  torn.  ii. 
cap.  xlii.  p.  244. 

gfgp13  Abulpbaragius,  or  Abul  Farai,  was  a  native  of  Ma- 
latia,  a  city  in  Armenia,  near  the  source  of  the  river  Eu- 
phrates, and  acquired  a  vast  reputation  in  the  east  on  account 
of  his  extensive  erudition.  He  composed  An  Abridgment 
of  Universal  History,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  his 
own  times,  which  he  divided  into  ten  parts,  or  dynasties. 
The  first  comprehends  the  history  of  the  ancient  Patriarchs 
from  Adam  to  Moses.  The  second,  that  qf  Joshua  and  the 
other  judges  of  Israel.  The  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth, 
contain  the  history  of  the  kings  of  Israel,  of  the  Chaldean 
princes,  of  the  Persian  Magi,  and  of  the  Grecian  Monarchs. 
The  seventh  relates  to  the  Roman  history ;  the  eighth,  to 
that  of  the  Greek  emperors  of  Constantinople.  In  the  ninth 
he  treats  concerning  the  Arabian  Commanders ;  and  in  the 
tenth,  concerning  the  Moguls.  He  is  more  to  be  de* 
pended  upon  in  his  history  of  the  Saracens  and  Tartars  than 
in  his  accounts  of  other  nations.  The  learned  Dr.  Edward 
Pocock  translated  this  work  into  Latin,  and  published  his 
translation  in  1663;  together  with  a  supplement  which 
carries  on  the  history  of  the  oriental  princes,  where  Abul 
Farai  left  it.  The  same  learned  translator  had  obliged  the 
public,  in  1650,  with  an  abridgment  of  the  ninth  dynasty 
under  the  following  title:  "Specimen  Historiae  Arabum ; 
"  sive  Georgii  Abulfaragii  Malatiensis  de  Or  igine  et  Moribus 
"  Arabum  succincta  Narratio." 


I 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  151 

tribute  to  the  grandeur  and  happiness  of  a  nation ;  CENT. 
and  therefore  they  invited  into  their  dominions  p^"'n 
learned  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  nourished 
the  arts  in  their  bosom,  excited  the  youth  to  the 
love  of  letters,  by  crowning  their  progress  with 
the  most  noble  rewards,  and  encouraged  every 
effort  of  genius,  by  conferring  upon  such  as  ex- 
celled, the  most  honourable  distinctions.  Among 
these  patrons  and  protectors  of  learning  the  em- 
peror Frederic  II.  and  Alphonsus  X.  king  of 
Leon  and  Castile,  two  princes  as  much  distin- 
guished by  their  own  learning,  as  by  the  en- 
couragement they  granted  to  men  of  genius, 
acquired  the  highest  renown,  and  rendered  their 
names  immortal.  The  former  founded  the  aca- 
demy of  Naples,  had  the  works  of  Aristotle 
translated  into  Latin,  assembled  about  his  person 
all  the  learned  men  whom  he  could  engage  by  his 
munificence  to  repair  to  his  court,  and  gave  many 
other  undoubted  proofs  of  his  zeal  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  arts  and  sciences  (&).  The  latter 
obtained  an  illustrious  and  permanent  renown  by 
several  learned  productions,  but  more  especially 
by  his  famous  Astronomical  Tables  (c).  In  con- 
sequence then  of  the  protection  that  was  given  to 
the  sciences  in  this  century,  academies  were  erected 
almost  in  every  city,  peculiar  privileges  of  various 
kinds  were  also  granted  to  the  youth  that  fre- 
quented them,  and  these  learned  societies  ac- 
quired, at  length,  the  form  of  political  bodies; 
that  is  to  say,  they  were  invested  with  a  certain 
jurisdiction,  and  were  governed  by  their  own  laws 
and  statutes. 

(b)  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  115.   Giannone, 
Hist,  de  Naples,  torn.  ii.  p.  497.     Add  to  these  the  observa- 
tions of  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  Biblioth.  Latin,  medii  aevi,  torn. 
ii.  p.  618. 

(c)  Nic.  Antonii  Bibliotheca  vetus  Hispan.  lib.  viii.  c.  v. 
p.  217.    Jo.  de  Ferreras,  Histoire  d'Espagne,  torn.  iv.  p. 
347. 


1<32  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.         III.    In  the  public   schools  or  academies  that 
PART^I    were  founded  at  Padua,  Modena,  Naples,  Capua, 

L  Thoulouse,  Salamanca,  Lyons,  and  Cologne,  the 

The  state  of  whole  circle  of  the  sciences  was  not  taught,  as  in 
peanacT"  our  times.  The  application  of  the  youth,  and 
demies.  the  labours  of  their  instructors,  were  limited  to 
certain  branches  of  learning,  and  thus  the  course 
of  academical  education  remained  imperfect.  The 
academy  of  Paris,  which  surpassed  all  the  rest 
both  with  respect  to  the  number  and  abilities  of 
its  professors,  and  the  multitude  of  students  by 
whom  it  was  frequented,  was  the  first  learned 
society  which  extended  the  sphere  of  education, 
received  all  the  sciences  into  its  bosom,  and  ap- 
pointed masters  for  every  branch  of  erudition. 
Hence  it  was  distinguished,  before  any  other  aca- 
demy, with  the  title  of  an  university,  to  denote 
its  embracing  the  whole  circle  of  science  ;  and,  in 
process  of  time,  other  schools  of  learning  were 
ambitious  of  forming  themselves  upon  the  same 
model,  and  of  being  honoured  with  the  same  title. 
In  this  famous  university,  the  doctors  were  di- 
vided into  four  colleges  or  classes,  according  to 
the  branches  of  learning  they  professed  ;  and 
these  classes  were  called,  in  after-times,  faculties. 
In  each  of  these  faculties,  a  doctor  was  chosen 
by  the  suffrages  of  his  colleagues,  to  preside  during 
a  fixed  period  in  the  society  ;  and  the  title  of 
dean  was  given  to  those  who  successively  filled 
that  eminent  office  (cQ.  The  head  of  the  uni- 
versity, whose  inspection  and  jurisdiction  ex- 
tended to  all  the  branches  of  that  learned  body, 
was  dignified  with  the  name  of  chancellor,  and 
that  high  and  honourable  place  was  filled  by  the 
bishop  of  Paris,  to  whom  an  assistant  was  after- 
wards joined,  who  shared  the  administration  with 
him,  and  was  clothed  with  an  extensive  autho- 

(«/)  This  arrangement  was  executed  about  the  year  1260. 
See  Du  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  557.  564. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  153 

rity  (e).     The  college  set  apart  for  the  study  of   CENT. 
divinity  was   first  erected    and    endowed,  in  the  PART  n. 
year  1250,  by  an  opulent  and  pious  man,  whose 
name  was  Robert  de  Sorbonne,  a  particular  friend 
and    favourite   of   St.    Lewis,    whose    name    was 
adopted,  and  is  still  retained  by  that  theological 
society  (  /). 

IV.  Such  as  were  desirous  of  being  admitted  The  aca- 
professors  in  any  of  the  faculties,  or  colleges  of 
this  famous  university,  were  obliged  to  submit  to 
a  long  and  tedious  course  of  probation,  to  suffer 
the  strictest  examinations,  and  to  give,  during 
several  years,  undoubted  proofs  of  their  learning 
and  capacity,  before  they  were  received  in  the  cha- 
racter of  public  teachers.  This  severe  discipline 
was  called  the  academical  course ;  and  it  was 
wisely  designed  to  prevent  the  number  of  pro- 
fessors from  multiplying  beyond  measure,  and 
also  to  hinder  such  as  were  destitute  of  erudition 
and  abilities  from  assuming  an  office,  which  was 
justly  looked  upon  as  of  high  importance.  They 
who  had  satisfied  all  the  demands  of  this  aca- 
demical law,  and  had  gone  through  the  formid- 
able trial  with  applause,  were  solemnly  invested 
with  the  dignity  of  professors,  and  were  saluted 
masters  with  a  certain  round  of  ceremonies,  that 
were  used  in  the  societies  of  illiterate  tradesmen, 
when  their  company  was  augmented  by  a  new 
candidate.  This  vulgar  custom  was  introduced, 

(e)  See  Herm.  Conringii  Antiquitates  Academicae,  a  work, 
however,  susceptible  of  considerable  improvements.  The 
important  work  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  and  which 
is  divided  into  six  volumes,  deserves  to  be  principally  con- 
sulted in  this  point,  as  well  as  in  all  others  that  relate  to  the 
history  and  government  of  the  university  of  Paris ;  add  to 
this  Claud.  Hemersei  Liber  de  Academia  Parisiensi,  qualis 
prirao  fuit  in  insula  et  episcoporum  scholis,  Lutet.  1637,  in 
4to. 

(/)  See  Du  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  223. — 
Du  Fresne's  Annotations  upon  the  life  of  St.  Lewis,  written 
by  Joinville,  p.  36. 


154  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  in  the  preceding  century,  by  the  professors  of  law 
.  *n  ^e  academy  °f  Bolonia,  and,  in  this  century, 
L  it  was  transmitted  to  that  of  Paris,  where  it  was 


first  practised  by  the  divinity-colleges,  and  after- 
wards by  the  professors  of  physic  and  of  the 
liberal  arts.  In  this  account  of  the  trial  and  in- 
stallation of  the  professors  of  Paris,  we  may  per- 
ceive the  origin  of  what  we  now  call  academical 
degrees,  which,  like  all  other  human  institutions, 
have  degenerated  sadly  from  the  wise  ends  for 
which  they  were  at  first  appointed,  and  grow  more 
insignificant  from  day  to  day  (g*). 

The  state  of  V.  These  public  institutions,  consecrated  to  the 
humanity.0*  advancement  of  learning,  were  attended  with  re- 
markable success ;  but  that  branch  of  erudition, 
which  we  call  humanity,  or  polite  literature, 
derived  less  advantage  from  them  than  the  other 
sciences.  The  industrious  youth  either  applied 
themselves  entirely  to  the  study  of  the  civil  and 
canon  laws,  which  was  a  sure  path  to  preferment, 
or  employed  their  labours  in  philosophical  re- 
searches, in  order  to  the  attainment  of  a  shining 
reputation,  and  of  the  applause  that  was  lavished 
upon  such  as  were  endowed  with  a  subtle  and 
metaphysical  genius.  Hence  the  bitter  complaints 
that  were  made  by  the  pontiffs  and  other  bishops, 
of  the  neglect  and  decline  of  the  liberal  arts  and 
sciences  ;  and  hence  also  the  zealous,  but  un- 
successful efforts  they  used  to  turn  the  youth 
from  jurisprudence  and  philosophy,  to  the  study 
of  humanity  and  philology  (h).  Notwithstanding 

(g)  Besides  the  writers  abovementioned,  see  Jo.  Chr.  Itte- 
rus,  De  Gradibus  Academicis. — Just.  Henn.  Bohmeri  Praef. 
ad  Jus  Canonicum,  p.  14. — Ant.  Wood  Antiqait.  Oxoniens. 
torn.  i.  p.  24. — Boulay,  Histor.  Academ.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  256. 
682.  684,  &c. 

(h)  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  265.  where 
there  is  an  epistle  of  Innocent  III.  who  seems  to  take  this 
matter  seriously  to  heart. — Ant.  Wood  Antiq.  Oxon.  torn.  i. 
p.  124. — Imola  in  Dantem  in  Muratori  Antiquit.  Ital.  rnedii 
aevi,  torn.  i.  p.  1262. 


PART  n. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  155 

all  this,  the  thirteenth  century  produced  several  CENT. 
writers,  who  were  very  far  from  being  con-  XIIL 
temptible,  such  as  Guil.  Brito  (*'),  Gualtherus , 
Mapes  (A:),  Matthew  of  Vendosme,  Alain  de 
PIsle  (/),  Guntherus,  Jacobus  de  Vitriaco,  and 
several  others,  who  wrote  with  ease,  and  were 
not  altogether  destitute  of  elegance.  Among 
the  historians,  the  first  place  is  due  to  Matthew 
Paris,  a  writer  of  the  highest  merit,  both  in  point 
of  knowledge  and  prudence,  to  whom  we  may 
add  Rodericus  Ximenius,  Rigordus  (m)9  Vin- 
cent of  Beauvais,  Robert  of  St.  Marino  (/?), 
Martinus,  a  native  of  Poland,  Gervais  of  Til- 
bury (o),  Conrad  of  Lichtenau,  Gulielmus  Nan- 
gius,  whose  names  are  worthy  of  being  preserved 
from  oblivion.  The  writers  who  have  laboured 
to  transmit  to  posterity  the  lives  and  exploits 
of  the  saints,  have  rather  related  the  superstitions 
and  miseries  of  the  times  than  the  actions  of 
these  holy  men.  Among  these  biographers, 
James  of  Vitri,  mentioned  above,  makes  the 
greatest  figure  ;  he  also  composed  a  History  of 
the  Lombards,  that  is  full  of  insipid  and  trifling 
stories 


(i}  See  the  Histoire  de  1' Academic  des  Inscriptions  et  des 
Belles  Lettres,  torn.  xvi.  p.  255. 

(k)  Jo.  Wolfii  Lectiones  Memorabil.  torn.  i.  p.  4-30. 

(1)  Called  in  Latin,  Alanus  de  Insulis. 

(m)  See  the  Histoire  de  1'Academie  des  Inscriptions  et 
des  Belles  Lettres,  torn.  xvi.  p.  24-3.  which  also  gives  an  am- 
ple account  of  William  of  Nangis,  p.  292. 

(»)  See  Le  Boeuf,  Memoires  pour  1'Histoire  d'Auxerre, 
torn.  ii.  p.  4-90.  where  there  is  also  a  learned  account  of  Vin- 
cent of  Beauvais,  p.  494. 

Ifip0  (o)  Jervais  of  Tilbury  was  nephew  to  Henry  II.  king 
of  England,  and  was  in  high  credit  with  the  emperor  Otho  IV. 
to  whom  he  dedicated  a  description  of  the  world  and  a  Chro- 
nicle, both  of  which  he  had  himself  composed.  He  wrote 
also  a  History  of  England,  and  one  of  the  Holy  Land,  with 
several  treatises  upon  different  subjects. 

(77)  See  Schelhornii  Amcenitates  Litterarisc,  torn.  xi. p.  32  i. 


156  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CxmT'        Y1'  R°ger  Bacon  (</),  John  Balbi,  and  Robert 
jx>  Capito,    with    some    other    learned    men,   whose 
number  was   but    inconsiderable,    applied   them- 


PART 


of  the'o ffek  Se^ves  to  ^e   stucty  of  Greek   literature.      The 
and  Oriental  Hebrew  language  and  theology  were  much  less 
languages,    cultivated;   "though  it   appears   that   Bacon    and 
Capito,  already  mentioned,  and  Raymond  Mar- 
tin,   author   of    an    excellent    treatise,    entitled, 
Pugio  Fidei  Christiana?,  or,  The  Dagger  of  the 
Christian  Faith,   were   extremely  well  versed  in 
that  species  of  erudition.     Many  of  the  Spaniards, 
and  more  particularly  the  Dominican  Friars,  made 
themselves  masters  of  the  Arabian  learning  and 
language,  as  the  kings  of  Spain  had  charged  the 
latter  with  the  instruction  and  conversion  of  the 
Jews  and  Saracens  who   resided   in   their  domi- 
nions (r).    As  to  the  Latin  Grammarians,  the  best 
of  them  were  extremely  barbarous  and  insipid,  and 
equally  destitute  of  taste  and  knowledge.     To  be 
convinced  of  this,  we  have  only  to  cast  an  eye 
upon    the    productions    of   Alexander    de    Villa 
Dei,  who  was  looked  upon  as  the  most  eminent 
of  them  all,  and  whose  works  were  read  in  almost 
all  the  schools  from  this  period  until  the  sixteenth 
century.     This  pedantic  Franciscan  composed,  in 

Efgp13  (<?)  This  illustrious  Franciscan  was,  in  point  of  genius 
and  universal  learning,  one  of  the  greatest  ornaments  of  the 
British  nation,  and  in  general  of  the  republic  of  letters.  The 
astonishing  discoveries  he  made  in  astronomy,  chemistry, 
optics,  and  mathematics,  made  him  pass  for  a  magician  in 
the  ignorant  and  superstitious  times  in  which  he  lived,  while 
his  profound  knowledge  in  philosophy,  theology,  and  the 
Greek  and  Oriental  languages,  procured  him,  with  more 
justice,  the  title  of  the  admirable  or  wonderful  doctor.  Among 
other  discoveries,  he  is  said  to  have  made  that  of  the  com- 
position and  force  of  gunpowder,  which  he  describes  clearly 
in  one  of  his  letters ;  and  he  proposed  much  the  same  cor- 
rection of  the  Kalendar,  which  was  executed  about  300 
years  after  by  Gregory  XIII.  He  composed  a  prodigious 
number  of  books,  of  which  the  list  may  be  seen  in  the 
General  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Bacon. 

(r)  See  Rich.  Simon's  Lettres  Choises,  torn,  iii.  p.  1 12. — 
Nic.  Antonii  Bibliothcca  vetus  Hispanica. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  157 

the  year  1240,  what  he  called,  a  Doctrinale,  in    CENT. 
Leonine  verse,  full  of  the  most  wretched  quibbles,     XIIL 

...  i-ii  r>  I-,--  PART  II. 

and  in  which  the  rules  of  grammar  and  criticism , . 

are  delivered  with  the  greatest  confusion  and 
obscurity,  or  rather  are  covered  with  impenetrable 
darkness. 

VII.  The  various  systems  of  philosophy  that  The  state  cf 
were  in  vogue  before  this  century,  lost  their  ere-  Phllosoi)hy- 
dit  by  degrees,  and  submitted  to  the  triumphant 
doctrine  of  Aristotle,  which  erected  a  new  and 
despotic  empire  in  the  republic  of  letters,  and 
reduced  the  whole  ideal  world  under  its  lordly 
dominion.  Several  of  the  works  of  this  philoso- 
pher, and  more  especially  his  metaphysical  pro- 
ductions, had  been  so  early  as  the  beginning  of 
this  century  translated  into  Latin  at  Paris,  and 
were  from  that  time  explained  to  the  youth  in  the 
public  schools  (6').  But  when  it  appeared,  that 
Almeric  (7)  had  drawn  from  these  books  his 

(s)  Franc.  Patricii  Discussiones  Peripateticae,  torn.  i.  lib. 
xi.  p.  14-5.  Jo.  Launoius,  de  varia  Aristot.  fortuna  in  Acad. 
Parisiensi,  cap.  i,  p.  127.  ed.  Elswich.  It  is  commonly  re- 
ported, that  the  books  of  Aristotle  here  mentioned,  were 
translated  from  Arabic  into  Latin.  But  we  are  told  positively, 
that  these  books  were  brought  from  Constantinople,  and 
translated  from  Greek  into  Latin.  See  Rigordus,  De  gestis 
Philippi  regis  Francorum  ad  A.  1209.  in  Andr.  Chesnii  Script. 
Histor.  Franc,  p.  119. 

Elgl0  (t)  Almeric,  or  Amauri,  does  not  seem  to  have  en- 
tertained any  enormous  errors.  He  held,  that  every  Chris- 
tian was  obliged  to  believe  himself  a  member  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  attached,  perhaps,  some  extravagant  and  fanatical  ideas 
to  that  opinion  ;  but  his  followers  fell  into  more  pernicious 
notions,  and  adopted  the  most  odious  tenets,  maintaining, 
that  the  power  of  the  Father  continued  no  longer  than  the 
Mosaic  dispensation ;  that  the  empire  of  the  Son  extended 
only  to  the  thirteenth  century :  and  that  then  the  reign  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  commenced,  when  all  sacraments  and  ex- 
ternal worship  were  to  be  abolished,  and  the  salvation  of 
Christians  was  to  be  accomplished  merely  by  internal  acts 
of  illuminating  grace.  Their  morals  also  were  as  infamous 
as  their  doctrine  was  absurd,  and,  under  the  name  of  charity, 
they  comprehended  and  committed  the  most  criminal  acts  of 
impurity  and  licentiousness. 


158  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    erroneous  sentiments  concerning  the  divine   na- 
XIIL     ture,   they   were   prohibited    and    condemned    as 

PAxiT    II.  .      .  J  *..,  .     T         ,  l    T  l  ,* 

pernicious  and  pestilential,  by  a  public  decree  of 

the  council  of  Sens,  in  the  year  1209  (u).  The 
logic  of  Aristotle,  however,  recovered  its  credit 
some  years  after  this,  and  was  publicly  taught  in 
the  university  of  Paris  in  the  year  1215 ;  but  the 
natural  philosophy  and  metaphysic  of  that  great 
man  were  still  under  the  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion (a>).  It  was  reserved  for  the  emperor  Fre- 
deric II.  to  restore  the  Stagirite  to  his  former 
glory,  which  this  prince  effected  by  employing 
a  number  of  learned  men,  whom  he  had  chosen 
with  the  greatest  attention  and  care  (#),  and  who 
were  profoundly  versed  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
languages,  to  translate  into  Latin,  from  the  Greek 
and  Arabic,  certain  books  of  Aristotle,  and  of 
other  ancient  sages.  This  translation,  which  was 
recommended,  in  a  particular  manner,  to  the 
academy  of  Bolonia  by  the  learned  emperor,  raised 
the  credit  of  Aristotle  to  the  greatest  height, 
and  gave  him  an  irresistible  and  despotic  autho- 
rity in  all  the  European  schools.  This  authority 

^g°  (M)  Dr.  Mosheim  has  fallen  here  into  two  light  mis- 
takes. It  was  at  Paris,  and  not  at  Sens,  and  in  the  year  1210, 
and  not  in  1209,  that  the  metaphysical  books  of  Aristotle 
were  condemned  to  the  flames.  The  writers  quoted  here 
by  our  author  are  Launoius,  De  varia  Aristotelis  fortuna  in 
A  cad.  Paris,  cap.  iv.  p.  195.  and  the  same  writer's  Syllabus 
rationum  quibus  Durandi  causa  defenditur,  torn.  i.  opp.  pars 
I.  p.  8. 

(TV)  Nat.  Alexander.  Select.  Histor.  Eccles.  Capita,  torn, 
viii.  cap.  iii.  sect.  7.  p.  76. 

(.r)  Petr.  de  Vineis  Epistolar.  lib.  iii.  ep.  Ixvii.  p.  503. 
This  epistle  is  addressed  "  ad  magistros  et  scholares  Bononi- 
"  enses,"  i.  e.  "  to  the  masters  and  scholars  of  the  academy 
"  of  Bolonia ;"  but  it  is  more  than  probable,  that  the  emperor 
sent  letters  upon  this  occasion  to  the  other  European  schools. 
It  is  a  common  opinion,  that  this  learned  prince  had  all  the 
works  of  Aristotle,  that  were  then  extant,  translated  into 
Latin  about  the  year  1220 ;  but  this  cannot  be  deduced  from 
the  letter  abovementioned,  nor  from  any  other  sufficient 
testimony  that  we  know  of. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  159 

was  still  farther  augmented  by  the  translations,  CENT. 
which  were  made  of  some  of  the  books  of  the 
Grecian  sage  by  several  Latin  interpreters,  such 
as  Michael  Scot,  Philip  of  Tripoly,  William  Fle- 
ming, and  others ;  though  these  men  were  quite 
unequal  to  the  task  they  undertook,  and  had  nei- 
ther such  knowledge  of  the  languages,  nor  such 
an  acquaintance  with  philosophy,  as  were  neces- 
sary to  the  successful  execution  of  such  a  difficult 
enterrise 


VIII.  The  Aristotelian  philosophy  received  the  Thomas 
very  last  addition  that  could  be  made  to  its  au-  ^"othlr 
thority  and  lustre,  when  the  Dominican  and  Fran-  adopt  and 
ciscan    friars    adopted    its    tenets,    taught    it    in  JJJ*1 ^!"tc 
their  schools,  and  illustrated  it  in  their  writings,  teiian  »y- 
These  two  mendicant  orders  were  looked  upon stenu 
as  the  chief  depositaries  of  all  learning,  both  hu- 
man and  divine ;    and  were  followed,   with    the 
utmost  eagerness  and  assiduity,  by  all  such  as  were 
ambitious  of  being  distinguished  from  the  multi- 
tude by  their  superior  knowledge.       Alexander 
Hales,  an  English  Franciscan,  who  taught  phi- 
losophy at  Paris,  and  acquired,  by  the  strength 
of  his  metaphysical  genius,  the  title  of  the  Irre- 
fragable  Doctor  (s),   and  Albert   the  Great,    a 
German  of  the  Dominican  order,  and  bishop  of 
Ratisbon,  a  man  of  vast  abilities,  and  an  universal 
dictator  at  this  time  (#),  were  the  two  first  emi- 

(?/)  See  Wood's  account  of  the  interpreters  of  Aristotle, 
in  his  Antiquitat.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  119.  as  also  Jebb's  Preface 
to  the  Opus  Majus  of  the  famous  Roger  Bacon,  published  at 
London,  in  folio,  in  the  year  1733.  We  shall  give  here  the 
opinion  which  Bacon  had  of  the  translators  of  Aristotle,  in 
the  words  of  that  great  man,  who  expresses  his  contempt  of 
these  wretched  interpreters  in  the  following  manner :  "  Si 
haberem,  (says  he)  potestatem  supra  libros  Aristotelis  Latine 
converses,  ego  facerem  omnes  cremari,  quia  non  est  nisi  tem- 
poris  amissio  studere  in  illis,  et  causa  erroris  et  multiplicatio 
ignorantise,  ultra  id  quod  valet  explicari." 

(z)  See  Lucae  Waddingi  Annales  Minorum,  torn.  iii.  p.  233. 
— Du  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  200.  673. 

(a)  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricii  Bibliotheca  Latina  rnedii  aevi,  torn,  i. 
p.  113. 


160  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  nent  writers  who  illustrated,  in  their  learned  pro- 
ductions, the  Aristotelian  system.  But  it  was 
the  disciple  of  Albert,  Thomas  Aquinas,  the 
Angelic  Doctor,  and  the  great  luminary  of  the 
scholastic  world,  that  contributed  most  to  the  glory 
of  the  Stagirite  (&),  by  inculcating,  illustrating, 
and  enforcing  his  doctrines,  both  in  his  lectures 
and  in  his  writings  ;  and  principally  by  engaging 
one  of  his  learned  colleagues  to  give,  under  his 
inspection,  a  new  translation  of  the  works  of  the 
Grecian  sage,  which  far  surpassed  the  former 
version  in  exactness,  perspicuity,  and  elegance  (c). 
By  these  means  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle,  not- 
withstanding the  opposition  of  several  divines, 
and  even  of  the  Roman  pontiffs  themselves,  who 
beheld  its  progress  with  an  unfriendly  eye,  tri- 
umphed in  all  the  Latin  schools,  and  absorbed  all 
the  other  systems  that  had  flourished  before  this 
literary  revolution. 

The  limits  IX.  There  were,  however,  at  this  time  in  Eu- 
are'extended  r°Pe  several  persons  of  superior  genius  and  pene- 
by  several  tration,  who,  notwithstanding  their  veneration 
for  Aristotle,  thought  the  method  of  treating 
philosophy,  which  his  writings  had  introduced, 
dry,  inelegant,  and  proper  to  confine  and  damp 

(b)  The  Dominicans  maintain,  that  this  Angelic  Doctor 
was  the  disciple  of  Albert  the  Great,  and  their  opinion  seems 
to  be  founded  in  truth.     See  Antoine  Touron,  Vie  de  St. 
Thomas,  p.  99.     The  Franciscans,  however,  maintain  as  ob- 
stinately, that  Alexander  Hales  was  the  master  of  Thomas. 
See  Waddingii  Annales  Minorum,  torn.  iii.  p.  133. 

(c)  It  has  been  believed  by  many,  that  William  de  Moer- 
beka,  a  native  of  Flanders,  of  the  Dominican  order,  and  arch- 
bishop of  Corinth,  was  the  author  of  the  new  Latin  transla- 
tion of  the  works  of  Aristotle,    which  was  carried  on  and 
finished  under  the  auspicious  inspection  of  Thomas  Aquinas. 
See  J.  Echard,  Scriptores  Dominican,  torn.  i.  p.  338.    Casim. 
Oudinus,  Comm.  de  Scriptor.  Eccles.  torn.  iii.  p.  468.   Jo. 
Franc.  Foppens  Bibliotheca  Belgica,  torn.  i.  p.  416.    Others, 
however,  suppose,  though  indeed  with  less  evidence,  that  this 
translation  was  composed  by  Henry  Kosbein,  who  was  also  a 
Dominican.     See  Echard,  Script.  Dominic,  torn.  i.  p.  469. 


eminent 
men. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  161 

the  efforts  of  the   mind  in  the  pursuit  of  truth,    CENT. 

XIII. 
PART  II. 


and  who,   consequently,  were  desirous  of  enlarg- 


ing the  sphere  of  science  by  new  researches  and 
new  discoveries  (</).  At  the  head  of  these  noble 
adventurers  we  may  justly  place  Roger  Bacon, 
a  Franciscan  friar,  of  the  English  nation,  known 
by  the  appellation  of  the  admirable  doctor,  re- 
nowned on  account  of  his  most  important  dis- 
coveries, and  who,  in  the  progress  he  had  made 
in  natural  philosophy,  mathematics,  chemistry, 
the  mechanic  arts,  and  the  learned  languages, 
soared  far  beyond  the  genius  of  the  times  (e}* 

(d)  Bacon's  contempt  of  the  learning  that  was  in  vogue  in 
his  time  may  be  seen  in  the  following  passage  quoted  by  Jebb, 
in  his  Preface  to  the  Opus  Majus  of  that  great  man:  "  Nun- 
quam,"  says  he,  "  fuit  tanta  apparentia  sapientise,  nee  tantum 
exercitium  studii  in  tot  facultatibus,  in  tot  regionibus,  sicut 
jam  a  quadraginta  annis:  ubique  enim  doctores  sunt  dispersi 
...in  omni  civitate,  et  in  omni  castro.  et  in  omni  burgo,  prae- 
cipue  per  duos  ordines  studentes  (he  means  the  Franciscans 
and  Dominicans,  who  were  almost  the  only  religious  orders 
that  distinguished  themselves  by  an  application  to  study) 
quod  non  accidit,  nisi  a  quadraginta  annis  aut  circiter,  cum 
tamen  nunquam  fuit  tanta  ignorantia,  tantus  error... Vulgus 
studentium  languet  et  asininat  circa  mala  translata  (by  these 
wretched  versions  he  understands  the  works  of  Aristotle, 
which  were  most  miserabty  translated  by  ignorant  bunglers) 
et  tempus  et  studium  amittit  in  omnibus  et  expensas.     Ap- 
parentia quidem  sola  tenet  eos,  et  non  curant  quid  scianr,  sed 
quid  videantur  scire  coram  multitudine  insensata."     Thus, 
according  to  Bacon,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  specious  ap- 
pearance of  science,  the  greatest  ignorance  and  the  grossest 
errors  reigned  almost  universally. 

(e)  That  Bacon  deserves  this  high  rank  in  the  learned 
world  appears  evidently  from  his  book,  entitled  Opus  Majus, 
which  was  dedicated  to  the  Roman  pontiff,  Clement  IV.  and 
which  Doctor  Jebb  published  at  London  in  1733,  from  a 
manuscript  which  still  exists  in  the  university  of  Dublin,  en- 
riching it  with  a  learned  preface  and  a  considerable  number 
of  judicious  observations.     The  other  works  of  Bacon,  which 
are  very  numerous,  lie  as  yet  for  the  most  part  concealed  in 
the  libraries  of  the  curious.     For  a  farther  account  of  this 
eminent  man,   see  Wood    Antiq.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  136. — 
Waddingi  Annales  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  264-.  torn.  v.  p.  51. — 
Thorn.  Gale  ad  Jambiclum   de  Mysteriis  ^Egyptior.  p.  235. 
General  Hist,  and  Crit.  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Bacon. 

VOL.  III.  M 


PART  ii. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

Cxn?"  With  him  we  may  associate  Arnold  of  Villa 
Nova,  whose  place  of  nativity  is  fixed  by  some  in 
France,  by  others  in  Spain,  and  who  acquired  a 
shining  reputation  by  his  knowledge  in  chemistry, 
poetry,  philosophy,  languages,  and  physic  (/)  ; 
as  also  Petrus  de  Abano,  a  physician  of  Padua, 
who  was  surnamed  the  Reconciler,  from  a  book 
he  wrote  with  a  design  to  terminate  the  dissensions 
and  contests  that  reigned  among  the  philosophers 
and  physicians  (g\  and  who  was  profoundly 
versed  in  the  sciences  of  philosophy,  astronomy, 
physic,  and  mathematics  (/&).  It  must,  however, 
be  observed,  to  the  eternal  dishonour  of  the  age, 
that  the  only  fruits  which  these  great  men  en- 
joyed of  their  learned  labours,  and  their  noble,  as 
well  as  successful,  efforts  for  the  advancement  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  were  the  furious  clamours 
of  an  enraged  and  superstitious  multitude,  who 
looked  upon  them  as  heretics  and  magicians,  and 
thirsted  so  eagerly  after  their  blood,  that  they 
escaped  with  difficulty  the  hands  of  the  public 
executioner.  Bacon  was  confined  many  years  to 
a  loathsome  prison  ;  and  the  other  two  were,  after 
their  death,  brought  before  the  tribunal  of  the  in- 
quisition, and  declared  worthy  of  being  committed 
to  the  flames  for  the  novelties  they  had  introduced 
into  the  republic  of  letters. 

The  study        X.  The  state  of  theology,  and  the  method  of 
teaching  and  representing  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 

(/)  See  Nic.  Antonii  Biblioth.  vetus  Hispan.  torn.  if.  lib. 
ix.  c.  i.  p.  74-.  —  Pierre  Joseph,  Vie  d'Arnaud  de  Ville  Neuve, 
Aix,  1719.  —  Niceron,  Memoires  des  Hommes  illustres,  torn. 
xxxiv.  p.  82.  —  Nicol.  Eymerici  Directoriumlnquisitorum,  p. 
282.  where,  among  other  things,  we  have  an  account  of  his 
errors. 

(g)  This  book  was  entitled,  Conciliator  Differentiarum 
Philosophorum  et  Medicorum. 

(h)  There  is  a  very  accurate  account  of  this  philosopher 
given  by  Joh.  Maria  Mazzuchelli  Notizie  Storiche  e  Critiche 
intorno  alia  Vita  di  Pietro  d'  Abano,  in  Angeli  Calogerae  Opus- 
culi  Scientifici  et  Philologici,  torn,  xxiii.  p.  i.  —  liv. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  163 

tianity  that  now  prevailed,  shall  be  mentioned  in  CENT. 
their  place.  The  civil  and  canon  laws  held  the 
first  rank  in  the  circle  of  the  sciences,  and  were 
studied  with  a  peculiar  zeal  and  application  by 
almost  all  who  were  ambitious  of  literary  glory. 
These  sciences,  however,  notwithstanding  the  assi- 
duity with  which  they  were  cultivated,  were  far 
from  being,  as  yet,  brought  to  any  tolerable  de- 
gree of  perfection.  They  were  disfigured  by  the 
jargon  that  reigned  in  the  schools,  and  they  were 
corrupted  and  rendered  intricate  by  a  multitude 
of  trivial  commentaries  that  were  designed  to 
illustrate  and  explain  them.  Some  employed 
their  labours  in  collecting  the  letters  of  the  Ro- 
man pontiffs,  which  are  commonly  known  under 
the  title  of  Decretals  (z),  and  which  were  looked 
upon  as  a  very  important  branch  of  ecclesiastical 
law.  Raimond  of  Pennafort,  a  native  of  Barce- 
lona, was  the  most  famous  of  all  these  compilers, 
and  acquired  a  considerable  reputation  by  his 
collection  of  the  Decretals  in  five  books,  which 
he  undertook  at  the  desire  of  Gregory  IX.  and 
which  has  been  since  honoured  with  the  name 
of  that  pontiff,  who  ordered  it  to  be  added  to  the 
Decretals  of  Gratian,  and  to  be  read  in  all  the 
European  colleges  (/<;).  Towards  the  conclusion  of 
this  century,  Boniface  VIII.  had  a  new  collection 
made,  which  was  entitled,  The  Sixth  Book  of 
Decretals,  because  it  was  added  to  the  five  already 
mentioned. 

(«)  See  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  98. 

(&)  Gerh.  a  Mastricht,  Historia  Juris  Ecclesiastici,  sect. 
353.  p.  384-. — Jo.  Chiflet,  De  Juris  utriusque  Architects,  cap. 
vi.  p.  60. — Echard  et  Quetif,  Scriptores  Dominicani,  torn.  i. 
p.  106.— Acta  Sanctor.  Antwerp,  torn.  i.  Januarii  ad  d.  vii.  p. 
404. 


M  2 


164 


CENT. 
XIII. 

PART  II. 

The  corrup- 
tion of  the 
clergy. 


And  of  the 
Roman  pon- 
tiff. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Doctors  and  Ministers  of  the 
Church,  and  its  Form  of  Government  during 
this  Century. 

I.  BOTH  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,    pro- 
voked,  beyond  measure,    by  the    flagitious   lives 
of  their  spiritual  rulers  and  instructors,  complain 
loudly   of    their    licentious    manners,    and    load 
them  with  the  severest  reproaches :  nor  will  these 
complaints   and   reproaches    appear    excessive    to 
such  as  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  this 
corrupt  and  superstitious  age  (/).      Several  emi- 
nent men  attempted  to  stem  this  torrent  of  licen- 
tiousness, which   from  the  heads  of  the  church 
had  carried  its  pernicious  streams  through  all  the 
members  ;    but    their  power  and  influence  were 
unequal  to  such  a  difficult   and   arduous  enter- 
prize.      The  Grecian   emperors   were   prevented 
from  executing  any  project  of  this  kind  by  the 
infelicity  of  the  times,  and  the  various  calamities 
and  tumults,  that  not  only  reigned  in  their  do- 
minions,  but  even  shook  the   throne   on   which 
they  sat ;   while  the  power  and  opulence  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  and  the  superstition  of  the  age, 
hindered  the  Latins  from  accomplishing,  or  even 
attempting,  a  reformation  in  the  church. 

II.  The  history  of  the  popes  presents  a  lively 
'  and   horrible   picture  of  the  complicated  crimes 

that  dishonoured  the  ministers  of  the  church, 
who  were  peculiarly  obliged,  by  their  sacred 
office,  to  exhibit  to  the  world  distinguished  models 

(/)  See  the  remarkable  letter  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  Gre- 
gory IX.  to  the  archbishop  of  Bourges,  which  was  written  in 
the  year  1227,  with  a  design  to  reprove  and  reform  the  vices 
which  had  infested  all  the  various  orders  of  the  clergy,  and 
which  is  published  by  Dion.  Sammarthanus,  in  his  Gallia 
Christiana,  torn.  ii.  in  Append,  p.  21. — See  also  Du  Fresne, 
Annotat.  in  Vitam  Ludovici  Sti.  p.  99. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

of  piety   and   virtue.      Such  of   the    Sacerdotal    CENT. 
order  as  were  advanced  to  places  of  authority  in     xm- 

the  church,    behaved    rather   like    tyrants    than 

rulers,  and  showed  manifestly,  in  all  their  conduct, 
that  they  aimed  at  an  absolute  and  unlimited 
dominion.  The  popes,  more  especially,  incul- 
cated that  pernicious  maxim,  "  That  the  bishop 
"  of  Rome  is  the  supreme  lord  of  the  universe, 
"  and  that  neither  princes  nor  bishops,  civil  go- 
"  vernors  nor  ecclesiastical  rulers,  have  any  law- 
"  fill  power  in  church  or  state,  but  what  they 
"  derive  from  him."  This  extravagant  maxim, 
which  was  considered  as  the  sum  and  substance 
of  papal  jurisprudence,  the  Roman  pontiffs  main- 
tained obstinately,  and  left  no  means  unemployed, 
that  perfidy  or  violence  could  suggest,  to  give 
it  the  force  of  an  universal  law.  It  was  in  con- 
sequence of  this  arrogant  pretension,  that  they 
not  only  claimed  the  right  of  disposing  of  eccle- 
siastical benefices,  as  they  are  commonly  called, 
but  also  of  conferring  civil  dominion,  and  of 
dethroning  kings  and  emperors,  according  to 
their  good  pleasure.  It  is  true,  this  maxim  was 
far  from  being  universally  adopted ;  many  placed 
the  authority  of  councils  above  that  of  the  pon- 
tiffs, and  such  of  the  European  kings  and  princes 
as  were  not  ingloriously  blinded  and  enslaved  by 
the  superstition  of  the  times,  asserted  their  rights 
with  dignity  and  success,  excluded  the  pontiffs 
from  all  concern  in  their  civil  transactions,  nay, 
even  reserved  to  themselves  the  supremacy  over 
the  churches  that  were  established  in  their  do- 
minions (772).  In  opposing  thus  the  haughty 

(m)  As  a  specimen  of  this,  the  reader  may  peruse  the 
letters  of  Innocent  III.  and  the  emperor  Otho  IV.  which 
have  been  collected  by  the  learned  George  Christ.  Gebaur, 
in  his  History  of  the  Emperor  Richard,  written  in  German,  p. 
611 — 614.  Other  princes,  and  more  especially  the  kings  of 
England  and  France,  displayed,  in  the  defence  of  their  rights 
and  privileges,  the  same  zeal  that  animated  Otho. 


166  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  pretensions  of  the  lordly  pontiffs,  it  was,  indeed, 
necessary  to  proceed  with  mildness,  caution,  and 
.  prudence,  on  account  of  the  influence  which 
these  spiritual  tyrants  had  usurped  over  the  minds 
of  the  people,  and  the  power  they  had  of  alarm- 
ing princes,  by  exciting  their  subjects  to  re- 
bellion. 

The  power  III.  In  order  to  establish  their  authority,  both 
bfsho^ab  *n  c^  an^  ecclesiastical  matters,  upon  the  firm- 
bots,  &c.  est  foundations,  the  Roman  pontiffs  assumed  to 
th"m<mtiffs  tnemse^ves  the  power  of  disposing  of  the  various 
offices  of  the  church,  whether  of  a  higher  or 
more  subordinate  nature,  and  of  creating  bishops, 
abbots,  and  canons,  according  to  their  fancy.  Thus 
we  see  the  ghostly  heads  of  the  church,  who 
formerly  disputed  with  such  ardour  against  the 
emperors  in  favour  of  the  free  election  of  bishops 
and  abbots,  overturning  now  all  the  laws  that 
related  to  the  election  of  these  spiritual  rulers, 
reserving  for  themselves  the  revenues  of  the  richest 
benefices,  conferring  vacant  places  upon  their 
clients  and  their  creatures,  nay,  often  deposing 
bishops  that  had  been  duly  and  lawfully  elected, 
and  substituting,  with  a  high  hand,  others  in 
their  room  (n).  The  hypocritical  pretexts  for 
all  these  arbitrary  proceedings  were  an  ardent 
zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  church,  and  an  anxious 
concern,  lest  devouring  heretics  should  get  a 
footing  among  the  flock  of  Christ  (o).  The 
first  of  the  pontiffs,  who  usurped  such  an  extra- 
vagant extent  of  authority,  was  Innocent  III. 
whose  example  was  followed  by  Honorius  III. 


(n)  Many  examples  of  this  may  be  taken  from  the  history 
of  this  century.  See  Steph.  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  vii.  p. 
443.  466.  470.  488.  491.  493.— Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  i.  p. 
69.  Append. — Luc.  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  in  Diplomat. — 
Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  148.  201,202. 

(o)  See  the  Epistle  of  Innocent  IV.  in  Baluz.  Miscellan. 
torn.  vii.  p.  468. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

Gregory  IX.    and    several    of   their    successors.    CENT. 
But  it  was  keenly  opposed  by  the  bishops,  who  PART  n> 

had  hitherto  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  nominating 

to  the  smaller  benefices,  and  still  more  effectually 
by  the  kings  of  England  and  France,  who  em- 
ployed the  force  of  warm  remonstrances  and 
vigorous  edicts  to  stop  the  progress  of  this  new 
jurisprudence  (p).  Lewis  IX.  king  of  France, 
and  now  the  tutelar  saint  of  that  nation,  distin- 
guished himself  by  the  noble  opposition  he  made 
to  these  papal  encroachments.  In  the  year  1268, 
before  he  set  out  for  the  Holy  Land,  he  secured 
the  rights  of  the  Gallican  church  against  the  in- 
sidious attempts  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  by  that 
famous  edict,  known  in  France  by  the  name  of 
the  pragmatic  sanction  (</).  This  resolute  and 
prudent  measure  rendered  the  pontiffs  more  cau- 
tious and  slow  in  their  proceedings,  but  did  not 
terrify  them  from  the  prosecution  of  their  pur- 
pose. For  Boniface  VIII.  maintained,  in  the 
most  express  and  impudent  terms,  that  the  uni- 
versal church  was  under  the  dominion  of  the 
pontiffs,  and  that  princes  and  lay  patrons,  coun- 
cils and  chapters,  had  no  more  power  in  spiritual 
things,  than  what  they  derived  from  Christ's 
vicar  upon  earth. 

IV.  The  legates,  whom  the  pontiffs  sent  into  The  autho- 
the   provinces,    to   represent   their   persons,    and 
execute  their  orders,  imitated  perfectly  the  avarice  sates- 
and  insolence  of  their  masters.       They  violated 
the  privileges   of  the   chapters ;  disposed  of  the 
smaller,  and  sometimes  of  the  more  important  eccle- 
siastical benefices,  in  favour  of  such  as  had  gained 
them  by  bribes,  or  such  like  considerations  (r) ; 


(p)  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  659.  and  prin- 
cipally torn.  iv.  p.  911. 
(?)  Idem.  ib.  p.  389. 
(r)  See  Baluzii  Miscellanea,  torn.  vii.  p.  4-37.   1-75.480, 


168  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    extorted   money  from  the  people,   by  the   vilest 
PART  ii.  anc^  most  iniquitous  means ;  seduced  the  unwary 

by  forged   letters  and  other  stratagems   of  that 

nature ;  excited  tumults  among  the  multitude, 
and  were,  themselves,  the  ringleaders  of  the 
most  furious  and  rebellious  factions  ;  carried  on,  in 
the  most  scandalous  manner,  the  impious  traffic 
of  relics  and  indulgences,  and  distinguished  them- 
selves by  several  acts  of  profligacy  still  more 
heinous  than  the  practices  now  mentioned.  Hence 
we  find  the  writers  of  this  age  complaining  unani- 
mously of  the  flagitious  conduct  and  the  enormous 
crimes  of  the  pope's  legates  (s).  Nay,  we  see 
the  Roman  pontiff  Alexander  IV.  enacting,  in 
the  year  1256,  a  severe  law  against  the  avarice 
and  frauds  of  these  corrupt  ministers  (£),  which, 
however,  they  easily  evaded,  by  their  friends  and 
their  credit  at  the  court  of  Rome. 

The  wealth       V.  From  the  ninth  century  to  this  period,  the 
nutVofthe  wea^tn  an^  revenues  of  the  pontiffs  had  not  re- 
pontiffs       ceived   any   considerable   augmentation ;    but    at 
augmented.  ^njg  ^me  ^ey  were  vastly  increased  under  Inno- 
cent III.    and  Nicolas  III.  partly  by  the  events 
of  war,  and  partly  by  the  munificence  of  kings 
and  emperors.     Innocent  was  no   sooner  seated 
in  the  papal  chair,   than  he   reduced  under  his 
jurisdiction  the  praefect  of  Rome,  who  had  hitherto 
been   considered   as  subject   to  the  emperor,  to 
whom  he  had  taken  an  oath  of  allegiance  in  en- 
tering upon    his   office.      He   also   seized   upon 
Ancona,  Spoletto,  Assisi,  and  several  cities  and  for- 

(.9)  See  that  judicious  and  excellent  writer  Matth.  Paris, 
in  his  Histor.  Major,  p.  313.  316.  549.  and  particularly  p. 
637.  where  we  find  the  following  remarkable  words :  e(  Sem- 
"  per  solent  legati  quales,  et  omnes  nuncii  papales  regna 
"  quaB  ingrediuntur  depauperare,  vel  aliquo  modo  pertur- 
"  bare."  See  also  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p. 
659. 

(t)  This  edict  is  published  by  Lami,  in  his  Deliciae  Erudi- 
,  torum,  tom.  ii.  p.  300. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  169 

tresses,  which  had,  according  to  him,  been  unjustly    CENT. 
alienated   from   the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter  (11).     xnr-1 

On  the  other  hand,    Frederic  II.   who  was  ex- \ 

tremely  desirous  that  the  pope  should  espouse 
his  quarrel  with  Otho  IV.  loaded  the  Roman 
see  with  the  richest  marks  of  his  munificence 
and  liberality,  and  not  only  made  a  noble  present 
in  valuable  lands  to  the  pope's  brother  (w),  but 
also  permitted  Richard,  count  of  Fundi,  to  leave, 
by  will,  all  his  possessions  to  the  Roman  see  (.r), 
and  confirmed  the  immense  donation  that  had 
formerly  been  made  to  it  by  the  opulent  Matilda. 
Such  was  the  progress  that  Innocent  III.  made, 
during  his  pontificate,  in  augmenting  the  splen- 
dour and  wealth  of  the  church.  Nicolas  IV. 
followed  his  example  with  the  warmest  emulation, 
and,  in  the  year  1278,  gave  a  remarkable  proof 
of  his  arrogance  and  obstinacy,  in  refusing  to 
crown  the  emperor  Rodolphus  I.  before  he  had 
acknowledged  and  confirmed,  by  a  solemn  treaty, 
all  the  pretensions  of  the  Roman  see,  of  which, 
if  some  were  plausible,  the  greatest  part  were 
altogether  groundless,  or,  at  least,  extremely  du- 
bious. This  agreement,  to  which  all  the  Italian 
princes,  that  were  subject  to  the  emperor,  were 
obliged  to  accede,  was  no  sooner  concluded,  than 
Nicolas  reduced  under  his  temporal  dominion 
several  cities  and  territories  in  Italy,  that  had 
formerly  been  annexed  to  the  imperial  crown, 
particularly  Romania  and  Bologna.  It  was 
therefore  under  these  two  pontiffs,  that  the  see 
of  Rome  arrived,  partly  by  force,  and  partly 
by  artifice,  at  that  high  degree  of  grandeur 

(u)  See  Franc.  Pagi  Breviar.  Romanor.  Pontif.  torn.  iii.  p. 
161. — Muratorii  Antiq.  Italicae,  torn.  i.  p.  328. 

(to)  This  brother  of  the  pontiff  was  called  Richard.  See 
for  an  account  of  this  transaction,  Muratori's  Antiquitat. 
Italics,  torn.  v.  p.  652. 

•~  (<r)  Odor.  Raynaldus,  Continuat.  Annal.  Baronii,  ad  a. 
1212.  sect,  ii. 


170  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and    opulence,    which    it    yet  maintains    in    our 

XIII. 


p 
h 


"PART*    T  T 

1      VI.  Innocent  III.  who  remained  at  the  head  of 

Thetyran-  the  church  until  the  year  1216,  followed  the  steps 
catePof  in!  of  Gregory  VII.  and  not  only  usurped  the  despo- 
nocent  in.  tic  government  of  the  church,  but  also  claimed 
several  ex-  the  empire  of  the  world,  and  thought  of  nothing 
ampies.       }ess  than  subjecting  the  kings  and  princes  of  the 
earth  to  his  lordly  sceptre.      He  was  a  man  of 
learning   and  application ;    but   his  cruelty,  ava- 
rice, and  arrogance  (z)  clouded  the  lustre  of  any 
good  qualities  which  his  panegyrists  have  thought 

; roper  to  attribute  to  him.  In  Asia  and  Europe, 
e  disposed  of  crowns  and  sceptres  with  the  most 
wanton  ambition.  In  Asia,  he  gave  a  king  to  the 
Armenians :  in  Europe,  he  usurped  the  same 
extravagant  privilege  in  the  year  1204,  and  con- 
ferred the  regal  dignity  upon  Primislaus,  duke  of 
Bohemia  (a).  The  same  year  he  sent  to  Johan- 
nicius,  duke  of  Bulgaria  and  Walachia,  an  extra- 
ordinary legate,  who,  in  the  name  of  the  pontiff, 
invested  that  prince  with  the  ensigns  and  honours 
of  royalty,  while,  with  his  own  hand,  he  crowned 
Peter  II.  of  Arragon,  who  had  rendered  his  do- 
minions subject  and  tributary  to  the  church,  and 
saluted  him  publicly  at  Rome,  with  the  title  of 
King  (£).  We  omit  many  other  examples  of  this 
frenetic  pretension  to  universal  empire,  which 
might  be  produced  from  the  letters  of  this  arro- 
gant pontiff,  and  many  other  acts  of  despotism, 
which  Europe  beheld  with  astonishment,  but, 
also,  to  its  eternal  reproach,  with  the  ignominious 
silence  of  a  passive  obedience. 

(y]  See  Raynaldus,  loc.  cit.  ad  a.  1278,  sect.  4-7. 

(z)  See  Matth.  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  206.  230. 

ggj0  (a)  Other  historians  affirm,  that  it  was  the  emperor 
Philip,  that  conferred  the  royal  dignity  upon  Primislaus,  in 
order  to  strengthen  his  party  against  Otho. 

(b)  Muratorii  Antiq.  Ital.  Medii  JEvi,  torn,  vi,  p,  116.  Jo. 
de  Ferrara,  Histoire  d'Espagne,  torn,  iv.  p.  8. 


PART 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  171 

VII.  The  ambition  of  this  pope  was  not  satis- 
fied  with  the  distribution  and  government  of  these 
petty  kingdoms.     He  extended  his  views  farther, 
and  resolved  to  render  the  power  and  majesty  of 
the  Roman  see  formidable  to  the  greatest  Euro- 
pean monarchs,  and  even  to  the  emperors  them- 
selves.    When  the  empire  of  Germany  was  dis- 
puted, towards  the  commencement  of  this  century, 
between  Philip,   duke  of  Swabia,  and  Otho  IV. 
third  son  of  Henry  Lion,  he  espoused,  at  first, 
the   cause    of  Otho,   thundered  out   his   excom- 
munications against  Philip,  and,  upon  the  death 
of  the  latter,  which  happened  in  the  year  1209, 
he  placed  the  imperial  diadem  upon  the  head  of 
his  adversary.     But  as  Otho  was,  by  no  means, 
disposed  to   submit  to  this  pontiff's  nod,  or  to 
satisfy  to  the  full  his  ambitious  desires,  he  incur- 
red, of  consequence,  his  lordly  indignation  ;  and 
Innocent,    declaring   him,    by  a   solemn    excom- 
munication, unworthy  of  the  empire,  raised  in  his 
place  Frederic  II.  his  pupil,  the  son  of  Henry  VI. 
and  king  of  the  two  Sicilies,  to  the  imperial  throne 
in  the  year  1212  (c).     The  same  pontiff  excom- 
municated Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France,  for 
having  dissolved  his  marriage  with  Ingerburg,  a 
princess  of  Denmark,  and  espoused  another  in  her 
place  ;  nor  did  he  cease  to  pursue  this  monarch 
with  his  anathemas,  until  he  engaged  him  to  re- 
ceive the  divorced  queen,  and  to  restore  her  to 
her  lost  dignity  (//). 

VIII.  But  of  all  the  European  princes  none 
felt,  in  so  dishonourable  and  severe  a  manner,  the 
despotic   fury    of   this   insolent  pontiff  as  John, 
surnamed   Sans  Terre,   king  of  England.     This 


(c)  All  this  is  amply  illustrated  in  the  Origines  Guelphicae, 
torn.  iii.  lib.  vii.  p.  24<7. 

(d)  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  8.     Daniel, 
Histoire  de  la  France,  torn.  iii.  p.  475.     Gerhard  du  Bois, 
Histor.  Eccles.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  204 — 257. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church, 

CENT,  prince,  opposed  vigorously  the  measures  of  Inno- 
cent, who  had  ordered  the  monks  of  Canterbury 
.  to  choose  Stephen  Langton,  a  Roman  cardinal  of 
English  descent,  archbishop  of  that  see,  notwith- 
standing the  election  of  John  de  Gray  to  that 
high  dignity,  which  had  been  regularly  made  by 
the  convent,  and  had  been  confirmed  by  royal 
authority  (<?).  The  pope,  after  having  conse- 
crated Langton  at  Viterbo,  wrote  a  soothing  letter 
in  his  favour,  to  the  king,  accompanied  with  four 
rings,  and  a  mystical  comment  upon  the  pre- 
cious stones  with  which  they  were  enriched.  But 
this  present  was  not  sufficient  to  avert  the  just 
indignation  of  the  offended  monarch,  who  sent  a 
body  of  troops  to  drive  out  of  the  kingdom  the 
monks  of  Canterbury,  who  had  been  engaged  by 
the  pope's  menaces  to  receive  Langton  as  their 
archbishop.  The  king  also  declared  to  the  pontiff, 
that,  if  he  persisted  in  imposing  a  prelate  upon 
the  see  of  Canterbury,  in  opposition  to  a  regular 
election  already  made,  the  consequences  of  such 
presumptuous  obstinacy  would,  in  the  issue,  prove 
fatal  to  the  papal  authority  in  England.  Inno- 
cent was  so  far  from  being  terrified  by  this  me- 
nacing remonstrance,  that,  in  the  year  1208,  he 
sent  orders  to  the  bishops  of  London,  Worcester, 
and  Ely,  to  lay  the  kingdom  under  an  interdict, 
in  case  the  monarch  refused  to  yield  and  to 
receive  Langton.  John,  alarmed  at  this  terrible 
menace,  and  unwilling  to  break  entirely  with  the 
pope,  declared  his  readiness  to  confirm  the  elec- 

Igp*  (e)  Dr.  Mosheim  passes  lightly  over  this  rupture 
between  king  John  and  Innocent  III.  mentioning  in  a  few 
lines  the  interdict  under  which  England  was  laid  by  that 
pontiff,  the  excommunication  he  issued  out  against  the  king's 
person,  and  the  impious  act  by  which  he  absolved  the  En- 
glish from  their  allegiance.  The  translator,  however,  thought 
this  event  of  too  great  importance  to  be  treated  with  such 
brevity,  and  has,  therefore,  taken  the  liberty  to  enlarge  con- 
siderably this  eighth  section,  which  contains  but  eleven  lines 
in  the  original. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  173 

tion  made  at  Rome  ;  but,  in  the  act  that  was  CENT. 
drawn  up  for  this  purpose,  he  wisely  threw  in 
a  clause  to  prevent  any  interpretation  of  this 
compliance,  that  might  be  prejudicial  to  his  rights, 
dignity,  and  prerogative.  This  exception  was 
rejected,  and  the  interdict  was  proclaimed.  A 
stop  was  immediately  put  to  divine  service ;  the 
churches  were  shut ;  the  administration  of  all  the 
sacraments  was  suspended  except  that  of  bap- 
tism ;  the  dead  were  buried  in  the  highways  with- 
out the  usual  rites  or  any  funeral  solemnity.  But, 
notwithstanding  this  interdict,  the  Cistertian  order 
continued  to  perform  divine  service,  and  several 
learned  and  respectable  divines,  among  which  were 
the  bishops  of  Winchester,  and  Norwich,  protested 
against  the  injustice  of  the  pope's  proceedings. 

The  interdict  not  producing  the  effects  that 
were  expected  from  it,  the  pontiff  proceeded  to  a 
still  farther  degree  of  severity  and  presumption, 
and  denounced  a  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  the  person  of  the  English  monarch.  This 
sentence,  which  was  issued  out  in  the  year  1208, 
was  followed  about  three  years  after  by  a  bull,  ab- 
solving all  his  subjects  from  their  oath  of  alle- 
giance, and  ordering  all  persons  to  avoid  him,  on 
pain  of  excommunication.  But  it  was  in  the  year 
1212,  that  Innocent  carried  his  impious  tyranny 
to  the  most  enormous  length,  when,  assembling 
a  council  of  cardinals  and  prelates,  he  deposed 
John,  declared  the  throne  of  England  vacant, 
and  wrote  to  Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France, 
to  execute  this  sentence,  to  undertake  the  con- 
quest of  England,  and  to  unite  that  kingdom  to 
his  dominions  for  ever.  He,  at  the  same  time, 
published  another  bull,  exhorting  all  Christian 
princes  to  contribute,  whatever  was  in  their 
power,  to  the  success  of  this  expedition,  pro- 
mising such  as  seconded  Philip  in  this  grand  en- 
terprise, the  same  indulgences  that  were  granted 


PART  II. 


174  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    to  those  who  carried  arms  against  the  infidels  in 
Palestine.      The  French   monarch   entered   into 
the  views  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  made  im- 
mense preparations  for  the  invasion  of  England. 
The  king  of  England,  on  the  other  hand,  assem- 
bled  his   forces,    and  was   putting  himself  in  a 
posture   of  defence,    when    Pandulf,    the   pope's 
legate,  arrived  at  Dover,  and  proposed  a  confer- 
ence, in  order  to  prevent  the  approaching  rupture, 
and  to  conjure  the  storm.     This  artful  legate  ter- 
rified the  king,  who  met  him  at  that  place,  with 
an  exaggerated  account  of  the  armament  of  Philip 
on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  disaffection  of  the 
English  on  the  other;   and  persuaded  him  that 
there  was  no  possible  way  left  of  saving  his  domi- 
nions from  the  formidable  arms  of  the  French 
king,  but  that  of  putting  them  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Roman  see.     John,  finding  himself  in 
such  a  perplexing  situation,  and  full  of  diffidence 
both  in  the  nobles  of  his  court  and  in  the  officers 
of  his   army,    complied   with  this   dishonourable 
proposal,   did  homage  to   Innocent,  resigned  his 
crown  to  the  legate,  and  received  it  again  as  a 
present  from  the  see  of  Rome,  to  which  he  ren- 
dered  his  kingdoms  tributary,  and  swore  fealty 
as  a  vassal  and  feudatory  (jf);      In  the  act  by 
which  he  resigned,  thus   scandalously,  his  king- 
doms to  the  papal  jurisdiction,  he  declared  that 
he  had  neither  been  compelled  to  this  measure 
by  fear  nor  by  force ;    but  that  it  was  his  own 
voluntary  deed,  performed  by  the  advice  and  with 
the  consent  of  the  barons  of  his  kingdom.     He 
obliged    himself  and  his  heirs  to  pay  an  annual 
sum  of  seven  hundred  marks  for  England,  and 


(/*)  For  a  full  account  of  this  shameful  ceremony,  see 
Matthew  Paris,  Historia  Major,  p.  189.  192.  195.  As  also, 
Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  67.  Rapin  Thoyras, 
Histoire  d'Angleterre,  torn.  ii.  p.  304. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  175 

three  hundred  for  Ireland,  in  acknowledgment  of    CENT. 
the  pope's  supremacy  and  jurisdiction  ;   and  con-       *J 

11  1  1  /»     1     •  "111 

sented  that  he  or  such  of  his  successors  as  should 

refuse  to  pay  the  submission,  now  stipulated,  to 
the  see  of  Rome,  should  forfeit  all  their  right  to 
the  British  crown  (g).  "  This  shameful  ceremony 
"  was  performed,"  says  a  modern  historian  (A), 
"  on  Ascension-day,  in  the  house  of  the  Tem- 
"  plars  at  Dover,  in  the  midst  of  a  great  con- 
"  course  of  people,  who  beheld  it  with  confusion 
"  and  indignation.  John,  in  doing  homage  to 
"  the  pope,  presented  a  sum  of  money  to  his  re- 
"  presentative,  which  the  proud  legate  trampled 
"  under  his  feet,  as  a  mark  of  the  king's  depend- 
"  ence.  Every  spectator  glowed  with  resent- 
"  ment,  and  the  archbishop  of  Dublin  exclaimed 
"  aloud  against  such  intolerable  insolence.  Pan- 
"  dulf,  not  satisfied  with  this  mortifying  act  of 
"  superiority,  kept  the  crown  and  sceptre  five 
"  whole  days,  and  then  restored  them  as  a  special 
"  favour  of  the  Roman  see.  John  was  despised 
"  before  this  extraordinary  resignation  ;  but  now 
"  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  contemptible  wretch, 
"  unworthy  to  sit  upon  a  throne :  while  he 
"  himself  seemed  altogether  insensible  of  his  dis- 


rrace." 


IX.  Innocent  III.  was  succeeded  in  the  pon- 
tificate  by  Concio  Savelli,  who  assumed  the  title  in 
of  Honorius  III.  ruled  the  church  above  ten 
years,  and  whose  government,  though  not  sig- 
nalized by  such  audacious  exploits  as  those  of  his 
predecessor,  discovered,  nevertheless,  an  ardent 
zeal  for  maintaining  the  pretensions,  and  support- 
ing the  despotism,  of  the  Roman  see.  It  was  in 


Cadet  a  jure  regni,  is  the  expression  used  in  the 
charter  of  resignation,  which  may  be  seen  at  length  in  the 
Hist.  Major  of  Matthew  Paris. 

Uil*  W   See  the  Complete  History  of  England,  by  Dr. 
Smollett,  vol.  i.  p,  437. 


176  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    consequence  of  this  zeal  that  the  new  pontiff  op- 
XIIL     posed  the  measures,  and  drew  upon  him  the  in- 

1  dignation    of    Frederic    II.    that     magnanimous 

prince,  on  whose  head  he  himself  had  placed,  in 
the  year  1220,  the  imperial  crown.  This  spirited 
prince,  following  the  steps  of  his  illustrious  grand- 
father, had  formed  the  resolution  of  confirming 
the  authority  and  extending  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  emperors  in  Italy,  of  depressing  the  small 
states  of  Loinbardy,  and  reducing  to  narrower 
limits  the  immense  credit  and  opulence  of  the 
pontiffs  and  bishops ;  and  it  was  with  a  view  to 
the  execution  of  these  grand  projects,  that  he 
deferred  the  fulfilling  of  the  solemn  vow,  by  which 
he  had  engaged  himself  to  march  a  formidable 
army  against  the  infidels  in  Palestine.  The 
pontiff,  on  the  other  hand,  urged,  with  importu- 
nity, the  emperor's  departure,  encouraged,  ani- 
mated, and  strengthened,  by  secret  succours,  the 
Italian  states  that  opposed  his  pretensions,  and 
resisted  the  progress  of  his  power  by  all  the  ob- 
stacles which  the  most  fertile  invention  could 
suggest.  These  contests,  however,  had  not,  as 
yet,  brought  on  an  open  rupture. 

The  calami-      X.    In  the  year  1227,   Hugolinus,  bishop  of 
aro8ehfrom   Ostia,  whose  advanced  age  had  not  extinguished 
the  ambition  the  fire  of  his  ambition,  nor  diminished  the  firm- 
ix.  reg°ry  ness  and  obstinacy  of  his  spirit,  was  raised  to  the 
pontificate,  assumed   the   title   of  Gregory    IX. 
and  kindled  the  feuds  and  dissensions,  that  had 
already  secretly  subsisted  between  the  church  and 
the  empire,  into  an  open  and  violent   flame.     No 
sooner  was  he  placed  in  the  papal  chair,  than, 
contrary  to  all  justice  and  order,  he  excommuni- 
cated the  emperor  for  putting  off  his  expedition 
against  the  Saracens   another  year,  though  that 
delay  was  manifestly  owing  to  a  fit  of  sickness, 
which  seized  that  prince  when  he  was  ready  to 
embark  for  Palestine.     In  the  year  1228,  Frede- 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  177 

ric  at  last  set  out  and  arrived  in  the  Holy  Land ;    CENT. 
but,  instead  of  carrying  on  the  war  with  vigour,  PABT  lfc 

as  we  have  had  already  occasion  to  observe,  he — 

entered  into  a  truce  with  Saladin,  and  contented 
himself  with  the  recovery  of  Jerusalem.  The 
pretended  vicar  of  Christ,  forgetting  (or  rather 
unwilling  to  persuade  himself)  that  his  master's 
kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  made  war  upon  the 
emperor  in  Apuglia  during  his  absence  (*'),  and 
used  his  utmost  efforts  to  arm  against  him  all  the 
European  powers.  Frederic,  having  received  in- 
formation of  these  perfidious  and  violent  proceed- 
ings, returned  into  Europe  in  the  year  1229, 
defeated  the  papal  army,  retook  the  places  he  had 
lost  in  Sicily  and  in  Italy,  and  the  year  following 
made  his  peace  with  the  pontiff,  from  whom  he 
received  a  public  and  solemn  absolution.  This 
peace,  however,  was  but  of  a  short  duration  ;  nor 
was  it  possible  for  the  emperor  to  bear  the  inso- 
lent proceedings,  and  the  imperious  temper  of 
Gregory.  He  therefore  broke  all  measures  with 
that  headstrong  pontiff,  distressed  the  states  of 
Lombardy  that  were  in  alliance  with  the  see  of 
Rome,  seized  upon  the  island  of  Sardinia,  which 
Gregory  looked  upon  as  a  part  of  his  spiritual 
patrimony,  and  erected  it  into  a  kingdom  for  his 
son  Entius.  These,  with  other  steps  that  were 
equally  provoking  to  the  avarice  and  ambition  of 
Gregory,  drew  the  thunder  of  the  Vatican  anew 
upon  the  emperor's  head  in  the  year  1239.  Fre- 
deric was  excommunicated  publicly  with  all  the 
circumstances  of  severity  that  vindictive  rage 
could  invent,  and  was  charged  with  the  most  flagi- 
tious crimes,  and  the  most  impious  blasphemies, 


_  0)  Under  the  feeble  reign  of  Henry  III.  the  pope 
drew  immense  sums  out  of  England  for  the  support  of  this 
impious  war,  and  carried  his  audacious  avarice  so  far,  as  to 
demand  the  fifth  part  of  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  of  the 
whole  kingdom. 

VOL.  III.  N 


178  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  by  the  exasperated  pontiff,  who  sent  a  copy  of  this 
PAR1*1!!  terrible  accusation  to  all  the  courts  of  Europe. 

1  The  emperor,  on  the  other  hand,  defended  his 

injured  reputation  by  solemn  declarations  in  writ- 
ing, while,  by  his  victorious  arms,  he  avenged 
himself  of  his  adversaries,  maintained  his  ground, 
and  reduced  the  pontiff  to  the  greatest  straits.  To 
get  rid  of  these  difficulties,  the  latter  convened, 
in  the  year  1240,  a  general  council  at  Rome,  with 
a  view  to  depose  Frederic  by  the  unanimous 
suffrages  of  the  cardinals  and  prelates,  that  were 
to  compose  that  assembly.  But  the  emperor  dis- 
concerted that  audacious  project  by  defeating,  in 
the  year  1241,  a  Genoese  fleet,  on  board  of  which 
the  greatest  part  of  these  prelates  were  embarked, 
and  by  seizing,  with  all  their  treasures,  these 
reverend  fathers,  who  were  all  committed  to  close 
confinement.  This  disappointment,  attended  with 
others  which  gave  an  unhappy  turn  to  his  affairs, 
and  blasted  his  most  promising  expectations,  de- 
jected and  consumed  the  despairing  pontiff,  and 
contributed  probably  to  the  conclusion  of  his 
days,  which  happened  soon  after  this  remarkable 
event  (&). 

mocent  XL  Geoffry,  bishop  of  Milan,  who  succeeded 
Gregory  IX.  under  the  title  of  Celestine  IV. 
died  before  his  consecration,  and,  after  a  vacancy 
of  twenty  months,  the  apostolic  stool  was  filled 
by  Sinabald,  one  of  the  counts  of  Fiesque,  who 
was  raised  to  the  pontificate  in  the  year  1243, 

(k)  Besides  the  original  and  authentic  authors  collected 
by  Muratori,  in  his  Scriptores  rerum  Italicarum,  and  the 
German  and  Italian  historians,  few  or  none  of  whom  are  ab- 
solutely void  of  partiality  in  their  accounts  of  these  unhappy 
contests  between  the  empire  and  the  papacy,  see  Petrus  de 
Viniis,  Epistol.  lib.  i.  andMatth.  Paris,  Historia  Major.  Add 
to  these  Reynaldi  Annal. — Muratori  Annal.  Italian,  torn.  vii. 
et  Antiquit.  Italic,  torn.  iv.  p.  325.  5 17.  It  must  however  be 
observed,  that  this  branch  of  history  stands  yet  in  need  of 
farther  illustrations. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

assumed  the  denomination  of  Innocent  IV.  and  CENT 
yielded  to  none  of  his  predecessors  in  arrogance 
and  fury  (/).  His  elevation,  however,  offered 
at  first  a  prospect  of  peace,  as  he  had  formerly 
been  attached  to  the  interests  of  the  emperor,  and 
accordingly  the  conferences  were  opened,  and  a 
reconciliation  was  proposed  ;  but  the  terms  offered 
by  the  new  pope  were  too  imperious  and  extra- 
vagant, not  to  be  rejected  with  indignation  by 
the  emperor  (7/2).  Hence  it  was  that  Innocent, 
not  thinking  himself  safe  in  any  part  of  Italy,  set 
out  from  Genoa,  the  place  of  his  birth,  for  Lyons 
in  the  year  1244,  and  assembling  there  a  council 
the  following  year,  deposed,  in  their  presence, 
though  not  with  their  approbation,  the  emperor 
Frederic,  and  declared  the  imperial  throne  va- 
cant (n).  This  unjust  and  insolent  measure  was 
regarded  with  such  veneration,  and  looked  upon 
as  so  weighty  by  the  German  princes,  seduced 
and  blinded  by  the  superstition  of  the  times,  that 
they  proceeded  instantly  to  a  new  election,  and 
raised  first,  Henry,  landgrave  of  Thuringia,  and 
after  his  death,  William,  count  of  Holland,  to 
the  head  of  the  empire.  Frederic,  whose  firm 
and  heroic  spirit,  supported  without  dejection 
these  cruel  vicissitudes,  continued  to  carry  on 
the  war  in  Italy,  until  a  violent  dysentery  ended 
his  days  in  Apulia,  the  13th  of  December,  1250. 
Upon  the  death  of  his  formidable  and  mag- 
nanimous adversary,  Innocent  returned  into 


(/)  See  Matthew  Paris,  Historia  Major,  ad  a.  1254.  p.  771 . 

[fig0  (m)  These  preliminary  conditions  were:  1st,  That 
the  emperor  should  give  up  entirely  to  the  church  the  in- 
heritance which  was  left  to  it  by  Mathilda ;  and,  C2dly,  That 
he  would  oblige  himself  to  submit  to  whatever  terms  the  pope 
should  think  fit  to  propose,  as  conditions  of  peace. 

(w)  This  assembly  is  placed  in  the  list  of  ecumenical,  or 
general  councils ;  but  it  is  not  acknowledged  as  such  by  the 
Gallican  church. 

N   2 


180 

CENT. 

XIII. 

PART  II. 


Alexander 
IV. 


Urban  IV. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

Italy,  (o),  hoping  now  to  enjoy  with  security  the 
fruits  of  his  ambition.  It  was  principally  from  this 
period,  that  the  two  famous  factions,  called  Guelphs 
and  Ghibelines,  of  which  the  latter  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  emperors,  and  the  former  that  of  the 
pontiffs,  involved  all  the  Italian  states  in  the  most 
fatal  dissensions,  though  their  origin  is  much 
earlier  than  this  century  (p). 

XII.  Raynald,  count  of  Segni,  and  bishop  of 
Ostia,  was  raised  to  the  pontificate  after  the  death 
of  Innocent,  in  the  year  1254,  and  is  distinguished 
in  the  list  of  the  popes  by  the  name  of  Alex- 
ander IV.  During  the  six  years  and  six  months 
that  he  governed  the  see  of  Rome,  his  time  was 
less  employed  in  civil  affairs,  than  in  regulating 
the  internal  state  of  the  church,  if  we  except  the 
measures  he  took  for  the  destruction  of  Conradin, 
grandson  of  Frederic  II.  and  for  composing  the 
tumults  that  had  so  long  reigned  without  in- 
terruption in  Italy.  The  mendicant  friars,  in 
particular,  and  among  them  the  Dominicans 
and  Franciscans,  were  much  favoured  by  this 
pontiff,  and  received  several  marks  of  his  peculiar 
bounty. 

He  was  succeeded  in  the  Roman  see,  A.  D. 
1261,  by  Urban  IV.  a  native  of  Troyes,  of  obscure 
birth,  who,  before  his  elevation  to  the  pontifi- 
cate, was  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  after  that 
period  was  more  distinguished  by  his  instituting 
the  Festival  of  the  body  of  Christ,  than  by  any 
other  circumstance  in  the  course  of  his  reign.  He 
had,  indeed,  formed  several  important  projects, 
but  their  execution  was  prevented  by  his  death, 
which  happened  in  the  year  1264,  after  a  short 

(o)  Besides  the  writers  already  mentioned,  see  Nicol.  de 
Currio,  Vita  Innocentii  IV.  in  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  vii. 
p.  353. 

(;;)  See  Muratori  Dissertat.  de  Guelphis  et  Ghibellinis, 
in  his  Antiq.  Jtal.  medii  sevi,  torn.  iv.  p.  COG. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  181 

reign  of  three  years.     His  successor  Gui  Fulcodi,    CENT. 

XIII. 

PART  II. 


or  Clemens  IV.  a  native  of  France,  and  bishop 


of  Sabino,  who  was  raised  to  the  see  of  Rome  in 
the  year  1^65,  did  not  enjoy  much  longer  that 
high  dignity.  His  name,  however,  makes  a 
greater  figure  in  history,  and  was  rendered 
famous  in  many  respects,  and  more  especially  by 
his  conferring  the  kingdom  of  Naples  upon 
Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  to  Lewis  IX.  king  of 
France.  The  consequences  of  this  donation  are 
well  known,  and  the  fate  of  Conradin,  the  last  de- 
scendant of  Frederic  II.  who,  after  an  unfortunate 
battle  fought  against  Charles,  was  publicly  be- 
headed by  the  barbarous  victor,  if  not  by  the 
counsel,  yet  certainly  with  the  consent,  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  are  well  known  to  such  as  have 
the  smallest  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  these 
unhappy  times. 

XIII.  Upon  the  death  of  Clement  IV  (</),  Gregory  x. 
there  arose  warm  and  vehement  contests  among 
the  cardinals  concerning  the  election  of  a  new 
pontiff.  These  debates,  which  kept  the  Roman 
see  vacant  during  the  space  of  three  years,  were 
at  length  terminated  in  favour  of  Theald,  or 
Thibald,  a  native  of  Placentia,  and  archbishop 
of  Liege,  who  was  raised  to  the  pontificate  in  the 
year  1 27 1,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Gregory  X  (r). 
This  devout  ecclesiastic  was  in  the  Holy  Land 
when  he  received  the  news  of  his  election ;  and, 
as  he  had  been  an  eye-witness  of  the  miserable 
condition  of  the  Christians  in  that  country,  he 
had  nothing  so  much  at  heart  as  the  desire  of 
contributing  to  their  relief.  Hence  it  was,  that, 
immediately  after  his  consecration,  he  summoned 
a  council  to  meet  at  Lyons,  in  the  year  1274,  in 

(q)  \Yhich  happened  in  the  year  1268. 
(r)  Ihe  records  of  this  election  are  published  hy  Luc. 
Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  330. 


183  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  which  the  relief  and  maintenance  of  the  Chris- 
^ans  *n  Palestme>  and  tne  re-union  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  churches,  were  the  two  great  points 
that  were  to  come  principally  under  deliberation. 
This  assembly  is  acknowledged  as  the  fourteenth 
general  council,  and  is  rendered  particularly  re- 
markable by  the  new  regulations  that  were  intro- 
duced into  the  manner  of  electing  the  Roman 
pontiff,  and  more  especially  by  the  famous  law, 
which  is  still  in  force,  and  by  which  it  was 
enacted,  that  the  cardinal  electors  should  be  shut 
up  in  the  conclave  during  the  vacancy  of  the 
pontificate.  With  respect  to  the  character  and 
sentiments  of  the  new  pope  we  shall  only  observe, 
that  though  he  seemed  to  be  actuated  by  a  milder 
spirit  than  many  of  his  predecessors,  yet  he  incul- 
cated, without  the  least  hesitation,  that  odious 
maxim  of  Gregory  VII.  that  declared  the  bishop 
of  Rome  the  lord  of  the  world,  and,  in  a  more 
especial  manner,  of  the  Roman  empire.  It  was 
in  consequence  of  this  presumptuous  system,  that 
in  the  year  1271,  he  wrote  an  imperious  and 
threatening  letter  to  the  German  princes,  in  which, 
deaf  to  the  pretensions  and  remonstrances  of 
Alphonsus,  king  of  Castile  (s),  he  ordered  them  to 
elect  an  emperor  without  delay,  assuring  them, 
that  if  they  did  not  do  it  immediately,  he  would 
do  it  for  them.  This  letter  produced  the  designed 
effect ;  an  electoral  diet  was  assembled  at  Franc- 
fort,  and  Rodolphus,  count  of  Hapsburg,  was 
raised  to  the  imperial  throne. 


)  Alphonsus,  king  of  Castile,  had  been  elected  em- 
peror in  the  year  1256,  by  the  archbishop  of  Triers,  the  duke 
of  Saxony,  the  margrave  of  Brandenburg,  and  the  king  of 
Bohemia,  in  opposition  to  Richard.,  duke  of  Cornwall,  brother 
of  Henry  III.  king  of  England,  who  was  at  the  same  time 
raised  to  the  same  dignity  by  the  archbishops  of  Mentz  and 
Cologne,  the  count  palatine  of  the  Rhine,  and  the  duke  of 
Bavaria, 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  183 

XIV.  Gregory  X.  was  succeeded,  in  the  year    CENT. 
1276,  by  Peter  of  Tarantaise,  of  the  Dominican 
order,  and  bishop  of  Ostia,  who  assumed  the  name 


of  Innocent  V.  and  died  about  five  months  after  innocent  v. 
his  election.  Ottoboni,  a  native  of  Genoa,  and  john'xxi. 
cardinal  of  St.  Adrian,  was  chosen  in  his  place,  Nic°ias  in. 
took  the  title  of  Adrian  V  (f),  and  after  having 
ruled  the  church  during  five  weeks,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Peter  Julian,  bishop  of  Tusculum, 
who  enjoyed  that  high  dignity  about  eight 
months,  and  is  distinguished  in  the  papal  list  by 
the  name  of  John  XXI  (?/).  The  see  of  Rome 
continued  vacant  for  about  six  months  after  the 
death  of  the  last  mentioned  pontiff,  but  was  at 
length  filled  in  the  month  of  November  1277>  ^Y 
Joan  Cajetan,  of  the  family  of  Ursins,  cardinal  of 
St.  Nicholas,  whose  name  he  adopted  for  his  papal 
title.  This  famous  pontiff,  as  has  been  already 
observed,  augmented  greatly  both  the  opulence 
and  authority  of  the  bishops  of  Rome,  and  had 
formed  vast  projects,  which  his  undaunted  courage 
and  his  remarkable  activity  would  have  enabled 
him,  without  doubt,,  to  execute  with  success,  had 
not  death  blasted  his  hopes,  and  disconcerted  his 
ambitious  schemes. 

XV.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  year  1281,  about  Martin  iv. 
six  months  after  his  departure  from  this  life,  by  Nlcolas  Iv- 
Simon  de  Brie,  who  adopted  the  name  of  Martin 
IV.  and  was  not  inferior  to  Nicolas  III.  in  ambi- 
tion, arrogance,  and  constancy  of  mind,  of  which 
he   gave   several    proofs    during   his   pontificate. 
Michael  Palaeologus,  the  Grecian  emperor,  was 
one  of  the  first  princes,  who  was  solemnly  ex- 


_     (0  WG  read  in  the  Latin  Adrian  VI.  which  is  more 
probably  an  error  of  the  press  than  a  fault  of  the  author. 

ffgf3  (u)  In  the  original,  Dr.  Mosheim  observes,  that  these 
three  successors  of  Gregory  were  elected  and  carried  off  by 
death  in  the  year  1276;  but  here  he  has  fallen  into  a  slight 
mistake;  for  John  XXI.  died  the  16th  of  May,  1277. 


184  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    communicated    by    this    audacious    priest,    and 
XIIL     that,  under  the   pretext   of   his   having:    broken 

PART   II.  1111  & 

the  peace  that  had  been  concluded  between  the 

Greek  and  Latin  churches,  at  the  council  of 
Lyons  («?)•  The  same  insult  was  committed 
against  Peter,  king  of  Arragon,  whom  Martin 
not  only  excluded  from  the  bosom  of  the  church, 
but  also  deposed  from  his  throne,  on  account  of 
his  attempt  upon  Sicily,  and  made  a  grant  of  his 
kingdom,  fiefs,  and  possessions  to  Charles,  son 
of  Philip  the  Bold  (#),  king  of  France.  It  was 
during  the  execution  of  such  daring  enterprises 
as  these,  and  while  he  was  meditating  still  greater 
things  for  the  glory  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  that 
a  sudden  death,  in  the  year  1285,  obliged  him  to 
leave  his  schemes  unfinished.  They  were,  how- 
ever, prosecuted  with  great  spirit  by  his  successor, 
James  Saveli,  who  chose  the  denomination  of 
Honorius  IV.  but  was  also  stopt  short,  in  the 
midst  of  his  career,  in  the  year  1287,  having 
ruled  the  church  only  two  years.  Jerome  d'As- 
coli,  bishop  of  Palaestrina,  who  was  raised  to  the 
pontificate  in  the  year  1288,  and  is  known  by  the 
name  of  Nicolas  IV.  distinguished  himself,  dur- 
ing the  four  years  that  he  remained  at  the  head 
of  the  church,  by  his  assiduous  application  both 
to  ecclesiastical  and  political  affairs.  Sometimes 
we  see  the  disputes  of  sovereign  powers  left  to  his 
arbitration,  and  terminated  by  his  decision  ;  at 
other  times,  we  find  him  maintaining  the  pre- 
tensions and  privileges  of  the  church  with  the 
most  resolute  zeal  and  the  most  obstinate  perse- 
verance ;  at  other  times,  again,  we  see  him  em- 
ploying, with  the  utmost  assiduity,  every  proba- 
ble method  of  propagating  the  gospel  among  the 

(M?)  This  council  had  been  held  under  the  pontificate  of 

Gregory  X. 

(x)  Philippe  le  Hardi,  as  he  is  called  by  the  French. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  185 

Tartars  and  other  eastern  nations.    But  the  object    CENT. 
which,  of  all  others,  occupied  most  the  thoughts      xm 

Jr  c5  PART  II 

of  this  vigilant  and  zealous  pontiff,  was  the  de- 1 

sperate  state  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine,  who 
were  now  reduced  to  the  greatest  extremities  of 
misery  and  weakness.  His  laborious  efforts  were 
therefore  employed  for  the  restoration  of  their 
former  grandeur ;  they  were  however  employed 
in  vain,  and  his  death,  which  happened  in  the 
year  1*292,  disconcerted  all  the  projects  he  had 
formed  for  that  purpose. 

XVI.  The  death  of  this  pontiff  was  followed  CeiestineV. 
by  a  vacancy  of  three  years  in  the  see  of  Rome, 
which  was  owing  to  the  disputes  that  arose  among 
the  cardinals  about  the  election  of  a  new  pope. 
These  disputes  were  at  length  terminated,  and 
the  contending  parties  united  their  suffrages  in 
favour  of  Peter,  surnamed  Dr.  Murrone,  from  a 
mountain  where  he  had  hitherto  lived  in  the 
deepest  solitude,  and  with  the  utmost  austerity. 
This  venerable  old  man,  who  was  in  high  renown 
on  account  of  the  remarkable  sanctity  of  his  life 
and  conversation,  was  raised  to  the  pontificate  in 
the  year  1294,  and  assumed  the  name  of  Celes- 
tine  V.  But  the  austerity  of  his  manners,  which 
was  a  tacit  reproach  upon  the  corruption  of  the 
Roman  court,  and  more  especially  upon  the 
luxury  of  the  cardinals,  rendered  him  extremely 
disagreeable  to  a  degenerate  and  licentious  clergy ; 
and  this  dislike  was  so  heightened  by  the  whole 
course  of  his  administration  (which  showed  that 
he  had  more  at  heart  the  reformation  and  purity 
of  the  church,  than  the  increase  of  its  opulence 
and  the  propagation  of  its  authority)  that  he  was 
almost  universally  considered  as  unworthy  of  the 
pontificate.  Hence  it  was,  that  several  of  the 
cardinals,  and  particularly  Benedict  Cajetan, 
advised  him  to  abdicate  the  papacy,  which  he  had 
accepted  with  such  reluctance,  and  they  had  the 


186 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


PAR! 


Boniface 
VIII. 


CENT,  pleasure  of  seeing  their  advice  followed  with  the 
XI-r  ii.  utmost  docility.  The  good  man  resigned  his 
.  dignity,  the  fourth  month  after  his  election,  and 
died  in  the  year  1296,  in  the  castle  of  Fumone, 
where  his  tyrannic  and  suspicious  successor  kept 
him  in  captivity,  that  he  might  not  be  engaged, 
by  the  solicitations  of  his  friends,  to  attempt  the 
recovery  of  his  abdicated  honours.  His  memory 
was  precious  to  the  virtuous  part  of  the  church, 
and  he  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  saint  by 
Clement  V.  It  was  from  him  that  the  branch 
of  the  Benedictine  order,  called  Celestines,  and 
which  yet  subsists  in  France  and  Italy,  derived  its 
origin  (#). 

XVII.  Benedict  Cajetan,  who  had  persuaded 
the  good  pontiff  now  mentioned  to  resign  his 
place,  succeeded  him  in  it  in  the  year  1 294 ; 
and  took  the  name  of  Boniface  VIII.  We  may 
say,  with  truth,  of  this  unworthy  prelate,  that  he 
was  born  to  be  a  plague  both  to  church  and  state, 
a  disturber  of  the  repose  of  nations,  and  that  his 
attempts  to  extend  and  confirm  the  despotism  of 
the  Roman  pontiffs  were  carried  to  a  length  that 
approached  to  frenzy.  From  the  moment  that 
he  entered  upon  his  new  dignity,  he  laid  claim  to 
a  supreme  and  irresistible  dominion  over  all  the 
powers  of  the  earth,  both  spiritual  and  temporal, 
terrified  kingdoms  and  empires  with  the  thunder 
of  his  bulls,  called  princes  and  sovereign  states 
before  his  tribunal  to  decide  their  quarrels,  aug- 
mented the  papal  jurisprudence  with  a  new  body 
of  laws,  which  was  entitled,  The  Sixth  Book  of 
the  Decretals,  declared  war  against  the  illustrious 
family  of  Colonna,  who  disputed  his  title  to  the 
pontificate  (2) ;  in  a  word,  exhibited  to  the 

(#)  Helyot,  Histoire  des  Ordres,  torn.  vi.  p.  180. 

llg0  (z)  The  reasons  they  alleged  for  disputing  the  title 
of  Boniface  to  the  pontificate  were,  that  the  resignation  of 
Celestinewas  not  canonical,  and  moreover, that  it  was  brought 
about  by  fraudulent  means. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  187 

church,    and   to   Europe,    a  lively  image  of  the    CENT. 
tyrannical  administration  of  Gregory  VII.  whom     *IH* 

»  -..  NT  P  A  K.  1    1 1  • 

he  perhaps  surpassed   in  arrogance  (a).      It  was 

this  pontiff  that,  in  the  year  1 300,  instituted  the 
famous  jubilee,  which,  since  that  time,  has  been 
regularly  celebrated  in  the  Roman  church,  at 
certain  fixed  periods.  But  the  consideration  of 
this  institution,  which  was  so  favourable  to  the 
progress  of  licentiousness  and  corruption,  as  also 
the  other  exploits  of  Boniface,  and  his  deplor- 
able end,  belong  to  the  history  of  the  following 
century  (&). 

XVIII.    In  the  council  of  Lateran  that  was  New  mon- 
held  in  the  year  1215,  a  decree  had  been  passed, asticorders- 
by  the  advice  of  Innocent  III.  to  prevent  the  in- 
troduction of  new  religions,  by  which  was  meant, 
new  monastic  institutions.     This  decree,  however, 
seemed  to  be  very  little  respected,  either  by  that 
pontiff  or  his  successors,   since   several  religious 
orders,  hitherto  unknown  in  the  Christian  world, 
were  not  only  tolerated,    but  were  moreover  di- 
stinguished by  peculiar  marks  of  approbation  and 
favour,  and  enriched  with  various  privileges  and 
prerogatives.      Nor  will   this  tacit  abrogation  of 
the  decree  of  Innocent  appear  at  all  surprising 
to  such  as  consider  the  state  of  the  church  in  this 
century.     For,  not  to  mention   many  enormities 
that  contributed  to  the  suspension  of  this  decree, 
we  shall  only  observe,  that  the  enemies  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  heretical   sects,   increased  daily 
every  where ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  secular 

(a)  There  is  a  history  of  this  pontiff  written  by  Jo.  Rubeus, 
a  Benedictine  monk,  whose  work,  which  is  entitled  Bonifa- 
cius  VHI.e  familiaCajetanorum  principumRomanus  pontifex, 
was  published  at  Rome,  in  the  year  1651,  in  4to. 

(b)  In  this  account  of  the  popes,  I  have  chiefly  followed 
Daniel  Papebroch,  Francis  Pagi,  and  Muratori,  in  his  Annales 
Italiae,  consulting  at  the  same  time  the  original  sources  col- 
lected by  the  last  mentioned  author  in  his  Rerum  Italicaruni 
Scriptores. 


188  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    clergy  were  more  attentive  to  their  worldly  ad- 
p*i?T*n   vantages  ^an  to  the  interests  of  the  church,  and 

,  spent  in  mirth  and  jollity  the  opulence  with  which 

the  piety  of  their  ancestors  had  enriched  that 
sacred  body.  The  monastic  orders  also  had  al- 
most all  degenerated  from  their  primitive  sanc- 
tity, and  exhibiting  the  most  offensive  and 
shocking  examples  of  licentiousness  and  vice  to 
public  view,  rendered  by  their  flagitious  lives  the 
cause  of  heresy  triumphant,  instead  of  retarding 
its  progress.  All  these  things  being  considered, 
it  was  thought  necessary  to  encourage  the  esta- 
blishment of  new  monastic  societies,  who,  by  the 
sanctity  of  their  manners,  might  attract  the  esteem 
and  veneration  of  the  people,  and  diminish  the 
indignation  which  the  tyranny  and  ambition  of  the 
pontiffs  had  so  universally  excited :  and  who, 
by  their  diligence  and  address,  their  discourses 
and  their  arguments,  their  power  and  arms,  when 
these  violent  means  were  required,  might  dis- 
cover, persecute,  convert,  and  vanquish  the  grow- 
ing tribe  of  heretics. 
Several  of  XIX.  Of  the  religious  societies  that  arose  in 

the  monas-    t  -,  .  -,  , 

tic  institu-  this  century  seme  are  now  entirely  suppressed, 
while  others  continue  to  flourish,  and  are  in  high 
repute  at  this  present  time.  Among  the  former 
we  may  reckon  the  Humiliate  (a  title  expres- 
sive of  great  humility  and  self-abasement),  whose 
origin  may  be  traced  to  a  much  earlier  period 
than  the  present  century,  though  their  order  was 
confirmed  and  new  modelled  by  Innocent  III. 
who  subjected  it  to  the  rule  of  St.  Benedict. 
These  humble  monks  became  so  shockingly  licen- 
tious in  process  of  time,  that,  in  the  year  1571, 
Pope  Pius  V.  was  obliged  to  dissolve  their 
society  (c).  We  may  also  place  in  the  list  of  the 
suppressed  monasteries  the  Jacobins,  who  were 

(c)  Helyot,  Hist,  ties  Ordres,  torn.  vi.  p.  152. 


CHAP.  ir.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  189 

erected  into  a  religious  order  by  Innocent  III  (Y/),  °l^' 
and  who,  in  this  very  century,  not  long  after  the  PART  n. 
council  of  Lyons,  were  deprived  of  their  charter  ;  — 
the  Vallischolares,  or  scholars  of  the  valley,  so 
called  from  their  being  instituted  by  the  scholares, 
i.  e.  the  four  professors  of  divinity  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Paris,  and  from  a  deep  vale  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Champagne  in  which  they  assembled  and 
fixed  their  residence  in  the  year  1234  (e).  This 
society,  whose  foundation  was  laid  about  the  com- 
mencement of  this  century,  was  formerly  governed 
by  the  rule  of  St.  Augustine,  but  is  now  incorpo- 
rated into  the  order  of  the  regular  canons  of  St. 
Genivieve.  To  the  same  class  belong  the  order 
of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  the  mother  of  Christ, 
which  had  its  commencement  in  the  year  12(56, 
and  was  suppressed  in  1274  (f)  ;  the  Knights  of 
Faith  and  Charity,  who  undertook  to  disperse  the 
bands  of  robbers  that  infested  the  public  roads  in 
France,  and  who  were  favoured  with  the  peculiar 
protection  and  approbation  of  Gregory  IX  (g)  ; 
the  Hermits  of  St.  William  duke  of  Aquitaine  (A) ; 
not  to  mention  the  Brethren  of  the  Sack,  the 
Bethlehemites,  and  other  orders  of  inferior  note, 
that  started  up  in  this  century,  which,  of  all 
others,  was  the  most  remarkable  for  the  number 
and  variety  of  monastic  establishments,  that  date 
their  origin  from  it  (j). 

(d)  Matth.  Paris,  Hist.  Major,  p.  161. 

(e)  Boulay,   Histor.   Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  15. — Acta 
Sanct.  Mens.  Februar.  torn.  ii.  p.  4-82. 

(/)  Dion.  Sammarthani  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  i.  p.  653. 

(g)  Gallia  Christ,  torn.  i.  Append,  p.  165. — Martene, 
Voyage  Litter,  de  deux  Benedictins,  ton^xii.  p.  23. 

(h)  Jo.  Bollandi  De  ordine  Eremitar,  S.  Guilielmi  Comm. 
in  actis  SS.  Februar.  torn.  ii.  p.  472. 

(1)  Matth.  Paris,  Hist.  Major,  p.  815.  edit.  Watts,  where 
speaking  of  the  prodigious  number  of  convents  that  were 
founded  in  England  during  this  century,  he  expresseth  him- 
self thus  :  "  Tot  jam  apparuerunt  ordincs  in  Anglia,  ut  ordi- 
"  num  confusio  videretur  inordinata." 


190  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XX.   Among  the  convents  that  were  founded 
XIIL     in  this  century,   and  still  subsist,   the   principal 
place  is  due  to  that  of  the  Servites,  i.  e.  the  servants 


The  con-  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  whose  order  was  first  in- 
stituted,  A.  D.  1233,  in  Tuscany,  by  seven  Flo- 
rentine merchants,  and  afterwards  made  a  great 
progress  under  the  government  of  Philip  Benizi, 
its  chief.  This  order,  though  subjected  to  the 
rule  of  St.  Augustine,  was,  nevertheless,  erected 
in  commemoration  of  the  most  holy  widowhood  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  ;  for  which  reason  its  monks 
wear  a  black  habit  (&),  and  observe  several  rules 
unknown  to  other  monasteries.  The  prodigious 
number  of  Christians,  that  were  made  prisoners, 
by  the  Mahometans  in  Palestine,  gave  rise,  towards 
the  conclusion  of  the  twelfth  century,  to  the  in- 
stitution of  the  order,  entitled,  The  Fraternity  of 
the  Trinity,  which,  in  the  following  age,  received 
a  still  greater  degree  of  stability,  under  the  pon- 
tificate of  Honorius  III.  and  also  of  his  successor 
Clement  IV.  The  first  founders  of  this  institu- 
tion were  John  de  Matha,  and  Felix  de  Valois, 
two  pious  men  who  led  an  austere  and  solitary 
life  at  Cerfroy,  in  the  diocese  of  Meaux,  which 
is  still  the  seat  of  the  principal  convent  of  the 
order.  The  monks  of  this  society  are  called  the 
Brethren  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  because  all  their 
churches  are  solemnly  dedicated  to  that  profound 
mystery  ;  they  are  also  styled  Mathurins,  from 
their  having  a  monastery  at  Paris,  erected  in  a 
place  where  there  is  a  chapel  consecrated  to  St. 
Mathurin,  and  Brethren  of  the  Redemption  of 
Captives  (/),  because  the  grand  design  of  their  in- 


(&)  Besides  the  ordinary  writers  of  the  Monastic  History, 
see  Pauli  Florentini  Dialog,  de  origine  Ordinis  Servorum,  in 
Lamii  Deliciis  eruditorum,  torn.  i.  p.  1 — 48. 

Igp0  (/)  Broughton  and  some  other  writers  make  a  di- 
stinction between  the  Order  of  the  Redemption  of  Captives, 
and  the  Fraternity,  or  Brethren  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  They 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  191 

stitution  was  to  find  out  means  for  restoring  CENT. 
liberty  to  the  Christian  captives  in  the  Holy  XIIL 
Land,  in  which  charitable  work  they  are  obliged 
to  employ  the  third  part  of  their  revenue.  Their 
manner  of  life  was,  at  first,  extremely  abstemious 
and  austere  ;  but  its  austerity  has  been  from  time 
to  time  considerably  mitigated  by  the  indulgence 
and  lenity  of  the  pontiffs 


XXI.  The  religious  society  that  surpassed  all  The 
the  rest  in  the  purity  of  its  manners,  the  extent  cant  order 
of  its  fame,  the  number  of  its  privileges,  and  the 
multitude  of  its  members,  was  that  of  the  Men- 
dicant, or  begging  friars,  whose  order  was  first 
established  in  this  century,  and  who,  by  the  tenor 
of  their  institution,  were  to  remain  entirely  desti- 
tute of  all  fixed  revenues  and  possessions.  The 
present  state  and  circumstances  of  the  church 
rendered  the  establishment  of  such  an  order  ab- 
solutely necessary.  The  monastic  orders,  who 
wallowed  in  opulence,  were,  by  the  corrupting  in- 
fluence of  their  ample  possessions,  lulled  in  a 
luxurious  indolence.  They  lost  sight  of  all  their 

allege,  that  the  latter  order  was  instituted  at  Rome  by  St. 
Philip  Neri,  in  the  year  1548,  about  350  years  after  the  first 
establishment  of  the  former  ;  and  that  the  monks  who  com- 
posed it  were  obliged,  by  their  vow,  to  take  care  of  the  pil- 
grims who  resorted  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  Rome,  to 
visit  the  tombs  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 

(?w)  Beside  Helyot  and  the  other  writers  of  the  monastic 
History,  see  Toussaint  de  Plessis,  Hist,  de  1'Eglise  de  Meaux, 
torn.  i.  p.  172.  and  566.  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  ii. 
p.  523.  Ant.  Wood,  Antiq.  Oxoniens,  torn.  i.  p.  133.  In  the 
ancient  records,  this  society  is  frequently  styled  the  Order 
of  Asses,  on  account  of  the  prohibition  of  the  use  of  horses, 
which  made  a  part  of  their  rule,  and  which  obliged  the  men- 
dicant monks  to  ride  upon  asses.  See  Car.  du  Fresne's  Notes 
upon  Joinville's  Life  of  St.  Lewis,  p.  81.  But  at  present, 
through  the  indulgence  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  they  are  per- 
mitted to  make  use  of  horses  when  they  find  them  necessary. 
An  order  of  the  same  kind  was  instituted  in  Spain,  in  the 
year  1228,  by  Paul  Nolasco,  under  the  title  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Mary  for  the  Redemption  of  Captives.  See  the  Acta 
Sanctorum  Januar.  torn.  ii.  p.  980. 


192  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    religious  obligations,  trampled  upon  the  authority 
.  °f  tneir  superiors,  suffered  heresy  to  triumph  un- 
restrained,  and  the  sectaries  to  form  assemblies  in 
several  places ;  in   short,  they  were  incapable  of 
contributing  in  any  respect  to  promote  the  true 
interests  of  the  church,  and  abandoned  themselves, 
without  either  shame  or  remorse,  to  all  manner  of 
crimes.     On  the  other  hand,  the  enemies  of  the 
church,  the  various  sects  which  had  left  its  com- 
munion, followed  certain  austere  rules  of  life  and 
conduct,  which  formed  a  strong  contrast  between 
them  and  the  religious  orders,  and  contributed  to 
render  the  licentiousness  of  the  latter  still  more 
offensive  and  shocking  to  the  people.     These  sects 
maintained  that  voluntary  poverty  was  the  lead- 
ing and  essential  quality  in  a  servant  of  Christ, 
obliged  their  doctors  to  imitate  the   simplicity  of 
the  apostles,  reproached  the  church  with  its  over- 
grown opulence,  and  the  vices  and  corruptions  of 
the  clergy  that  flowed  from  thence  as  from  their 
natural  source,  and  by  this  commendation  of  po- 
verty and  contempt  of  riches,   acquired   a    high 
degree  of  respect,  and  gained  a  prodigious  ascend- 
ant over  the  minds  of  the  multitude.    All  this  ren- 
dered it  absolutely  necessary  to  introduce    into 
the  church  a  set  of  men,  who,  by  the  austerity  of 
their  manners,  their  contempt  of  riches,  and  the 
external  gravity  and  sanctity  of  their  conduct  and 
maxims,    might   resemble   the   doctors,  who  had 
gained  such  reputation  to  the  heretical  sects,  and 
who  might  be  so  far  above   the    allurements    of 
worldly  profit  and  pleasure,  as  not  to  be  seduced, 
by  the  promises  or  threats  of  kings  and  princes, 
from  the  performance  of  the  duties  they  owed  to 
the  church,  or  from  persevering  in  their  subor- 
dination to  the  Roman  pontiffs.     Innocent  III. 
was  the   first   of   the   popes  who   perceived    the 
necessity  of  instituting  such  an  order ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, he  gave  such  monastic  societies  as  made  a 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

profession  of  poverty  the  most  distinguishing  CENT. 
marks  of  his  protection  and  favour.  They  were 
also  encouraged  and  patronized  by  the  succeeding 
pontiffs,  when  experience  had  demonstrated  their 
public  and  extensive  usefulness.  But  when  it 
became  generally  known,  that  they  had  such  a 
peculiar  place  in  the  esteem  and  protection  of  the 
rulers  of  the  church,  their  number  grew  to  such 
an  enormous  and  unwieldy  multitude,  and  swarmed 
so  prodigiously  in  all  the  European  provinces,  that 
they  became  a  burthen,  not  only  to  the  people, 
but  to  the  church  itself. 

XXII.  The  great  inconveniency  that  arose  its  history, 
from  the  excessive  multiplication  of  the  mendi- 
cant orders,  was  remedied  by  Gregory  X.  in  a 
general  council  which  he  assembled  at  Lyons,  in 
the  year  1272.  For  here  all  the  religious  orders, 
that  had  sprung  up  after  the  council  held  at 
Rome,  in  the  year  1-215,  under  the  pontificate  of 
Innocent  III.  were  suppressed,  and  the  extra- 
vagant multitude  of  mendicants,  as  Gregory  called 
them,  were  reduced  to  a  smaller  number,  and  con- 
fined to  the  four  following  societies,  or  denomina- 
tions, viz.  the  Dominicans,  the  Franciscans,  the 
Carmelites,  and  the  Hermits  of  St.  Augustin  (n). 
The  Carmelite  order,  which  had  been  instituted 
in  Palestine  during  the  preceding  century,  was,  in 
this,  transplanted  into  Europe,  and  in  the  year 
1226,  was  favoured  by  pope  Honorius  III.  with  a 
place  among  the  monastic  societies,  which  enjoyed 
the  protection  and  approbation  of  the  church. 
The  Hermits  of  St.  Augustin  had  for  their 

(n)  Concil,  Lugd.  II.  A.  1274-.  Can.  xxiii.  in  Jo.Harduini 
Conciliis,  torn.  vii.  p.  715.  Importuna  potentium  inhiatio  re- 
ligionum  (so  were  the  religious  orders  entitled)  multipiicatio- 
nem  extorsit,  verum  etium  aliquorum  prassumptuosa  temeri- 
tas  diversorum  ordinum,  prsecipue  Mendicantium — effrsena- 
tam  multitudinem  adinvenit — Hinc  ordines  Mendicantes  post 
dictum  concilium  (i.e.  the  council  of  Lateran  held  in  1215) 
adinventos — perpetuae  prohibition!  subjicimus. 

VOL.   IH.  O 


194.  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  founder  Alexander  IV.  (o)  who,  observing  that 
PART  ii.  tne  Hermits  were  divided  into  several  societies, 
some  of  which  followed  the  maxims  of  the  famous 


William,  others  the  rule  of  St.  Augustin,  while 
others  again  were  distinguished  by  different  deno- 
minations, formed  the  wise  project  of  uniting  them 
all  into  one  religious  order,  and  subjecting  them 
to  the  same  rule  of  discipline,  even  that  which 
bears  the  name  of  St.  Augustin.  This  project 
was  put  in  execution  in  the  year  1256. 
Attracts  the  XXIII.  As  the  pontiffs  allowed  these  four 
InTesteem  Mendicant  orders  the  liberty  of  travelling  wherever 
of  the  public,  they  thought  proper,  of  conversing  with  persons 
of  all  ranks,  of  instructing  the  youth  and  the 
multitude  wherever  they  went ;  and,  as  these 
monks  exhibited,  in  their  outward  appearance  and 
manner  of  life,  more  striking  marks  of  gravity  and 
holiness  than  were  observable  in  the  other  mo- 
nastic societies,  they  arose  all  at  once  to  the  very 
summit  of  fame,  and  were  regarded  with  the 
utmost  esteem  and  veneration  throughout  all  the 
countries  of  Europe.  The  enthusiastic  attach- 
ment to  these  sanctimonious  beggars  went  so  far, 
that,  as  we  learn  from  the  most  authentic  records, 
several  cities  were  divided,  or  cantoned  out,  into 
four  parts,  with  a  view  to  these  four  orders :  the 
first  part  was  assigned  to  the  Dominicans ;  the 
second,  to  the  Franciscans ;  the  third,  to  the 
Carmelites  ;  and  the  fourth,  to  the  Augustiriians. 
The  people  were  unwilling  to  receive  the  sacra- 
ments from  any  other  hands  than  those  of  the 
Mendicants,  to  whose  churches  they  crowded  to 
perform  their  devotions,  while  living,  and  were 
extremely  desirous  to  deposit  there  also  their 
remains  after  death ;  all  which  occasioned  griev- 
ous complaints  among  the  ordinary  priests,  to 

(o)  This  edict  of  Pope  Alexander  IV.  is  to  be  found  in  the 
new  edition  of  the  Bullarium  Romanum,  torn.  i.  p.  110. — See 
also  Aeta  Sanctor.  Mens.  Fcbruar.  torn.  ii.  p.  4-72. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  195 

whom  the  cure  of  souls  was  committed,  and  who    CENT. 

XIII. 

PART  II. 


considered  themselves  as  the  spiritual  guides  of 


the  multitude.  Nor  did  the  influence  and  credit 
of  the  Mendicants  end  here ;  for  we  find  in  the 
history  of  this  and  of  the  succeeding  ages,  that 
they  were  employed,  not  only  in  spiritual  matters, 
but  also  in  temporal  and  political  affairs  of  the 
greatest  consequence,  in  composing  the  differ- 
ences of  princes,  concluding  treaties  of  peace, 
concerting  alliances,  presiding  in  cabinet-councils, 
governing  courts,  levying  taxes,  and  other  occu- 
pations, not  only  remote  from,  but  absolutely  in- 
consistent with  the  monastic  character  and  pro- 
fession. 

XXIV.  We  must  not  however  imagine,  that 
all  the  Mendicant  friars  attained  to  the  same mcans* 
degree  of  reputation  and  authority  ;  for  the  power 
of  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  surpassed 
greatly  that  of  the  other  two  orders,  and  rendered 
them  singularly  conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world.  During  three  centuries,  these  two  fra- 
ternities governed,  with  an  almost  universal  and 
absolute  sway,  both  state  and  church,  filled  the 
most  eminent  posts  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  taught 
in  the  universities  and  churches  with  an  authority, 
before  which  all  opposition  was  silent,  and  main- 
tained the  pretended  majesty  and  prerogatives  of 
the  Roman  pontiffs  against  kings,  princes,  bishops, 
and  heretics,  with  incredible  ardour  and  equal 
success.  The  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  were, 
before  the  Reformation,  what  the  Jesuits  have 
been  since  that  happy  and  glorious  period,  the 
very  soul  of  the  hierarchy,  the  engines  of  the 
state,  the  secret  springs  of  all  the  motions  of  the 
one  and  the  other,  and  the  authors  or  directors  of 
every  great  and  important  event  both  in  the  reli- 
gious and  political  world.  Dominic,  a  Spaniard 
by  birth,  a  native  of  the  village  of  Calaroga* 
descendant  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Guairmn, 

o  2 


196  The  Internal  History  .of  the  Church. 

CENT,  and  regular  canon  of  Osma,  a  man  of  a  fiery 
P^RTMI  anc^  impetuous  temper,  and  vehemently  exaspe- 
rated  by  the  commotions  and  contests  which  the 
heretics  of  different  denominations  had  excited 
in  the  church,  set  out  for  France  with  a  few 
companions,  in  order  to  combat  the  sectaries,  that 
wrere  multiplied  in  that  kingdom.  This  enter- 
prize  he  executed  with  the  greatest  vigour,  and, 
we  may  add,  fury,  attacking  the  Albigenses  and 
the  other  enemies  of  the  church  with  the  power 
of  eloquence,  the  force  of  arms,  the  subtilty  of 
controversial  writings,  and  the  terrors  of  the  in- 
quisition, which  owed  its  form  to  this  violent  and 
sanguine  priest.  Passing  from  thence  into  Italy, 
he  was  honoured  by  the  Roman  pontiffs  Inno- 
cent III.  and  Honorius  III.  with  the  most  di- 
stinguished marks  of  their  protection  and  favour  ; 
and,  after  many  labours  in  the  cause  of  the 
church,  obtained  from  them  the  privilege  of  erect- 
ing this  new  fraternity,  whose  principal  design 
was  the  extirpation  of  error,  and  the  destruction 
of  heretics.  The  first  rule  which  he  adopted  for 
the  new  society  was  that  of  the  Canons  of  St. 
Augustin,  to  which  he  added  several  austere 
precepts  and  observances.  But  he  afterwards 
changed  the  discipline  of  the  canons  for  that  of 

O  JT 

the  monks  ;  and,  holding  a  chapter  of  the  order  at 
Bologna  in  the  year  1220,  he  obliged  the  brethren 
to  take  a  vow  of  absolute  poverty,  and  to  abandon 
entirely  all  their  revenues  and  all  their  possessions. 
He  did  not  live  long  enough  to  see  the  conse- 
quences of  this  reformation,  for  he  died  the  year 
following  at  Bologna  (p).  His  monks  were,  at 

(p)  See  Jac.  Echard.  and  Quetif  in  Scriptoribus  Ord.  Do- 
minic, torn.  i.  p.  84-. — Acta  Sanctor.  April,  torn.  iii.  p.  872. — 
Nicol.  Jansenii  Vita  S.  Dominici,  Antwerp,  1622.  in  8vo. 
Add  to  these  the  long  list  of  writers  mentioned  by  Fabricius, 
in  his  BibliothecaLat.  Med.  JEvi,  torn.  ii.  p.  137.  and  also  An- 
tonii  Bremondi  BullariumOrdinis  Dominicani,  published  some 
years  ago  at  Rome. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

first,  distinguished  by  the  denomination  of  preach-  CENT. 
ing  friars,  because  public  instruction  was  the  main 
end  of  their  institution ;  but  were  afterwards  called  A 
Dominicans  after  their  founder  (r).  [i3P  Just 
before  his  death,  Dominic  sent  Gilbert  de  Fresney 
with  twelve  of  the  brethren  into  England,  where 
they  founded  their  first  monastery  at  Oxford  in 
the  year  1221,  and  soon  after,  another  at  London. 
In  the  year  1276,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  the 
city  of  London  gave  them  two  whole  streets  by 
the  river  Thames,  where  they  erected  a  very  com- 
modious convent,  whence  that  place  is  still  called 
Black-friars,  for  so  the  Dominicans  were  called  in 
England.] 

XXV.  Francis,  the  founder  of  the  famous  The  Fran- 
order  that  bears  his  name,  was  the  son  of  a  mer- ciscans* 
chant  of  Assisi,  in  the  province  of  Umbria,  and  a 
young  man  who  led,  for  some  time,  a  most  de- 
bauched and  dissolute  life.  Upon  his  recovery 
from  a  severe  fit  of  sickness,  which  was  the  con- 
sequence and  punishment  of  his  licentious  con- 
duct, he  changed  his  method  of  living,  and,  as 
extremes  are  natural  to  men  of  warm  imagina- 
tions, fell  into  an  extravagant  kind  of  devotion, 
that  looked  less  like  religion  than  alienation  of 
mind.  Some  time  after  this  (s),  he  happened  to 
be  in  a  church,  where  he  heard  that  passage  of 
the  scriptures  repeated,  in  which  Christ  addresses 
his  apostles  in  the  following  manner  :  "  Provide 
neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in  your  purses, 

(r)  The  Dominicans  are  called  Fratres  Majores  in  several 
of  the  ancient  records  ;  see  Ant.  Matthaei  Analecta  Vet.  JEvi, 
torn.  ii.  p.  172.  This  appellation,  however,  by  which  the 
Dominicans  were  set  in  opposition  to  the  Franciscans,  who 
call  themselves  Fratres  Miaores,  is  rather  a  term  of  derision 
than  a  real  name.  In  France  the  Dominicans  are  called  Ja- 
cobins, from  the  street  where  their  first  convent  was  erected 
at  Paris,  in  the  year  1218,  which  street  was  dedicated  to  St. 
James,  and  is  still  known  by  the  name  of  Rue  de  St.  Jaques. 

(«)  In  the  year  1208. 


198  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    nor   scrip  for   your  journey,  neither  two  coats, 
XIIL     neither  shoes,  nor  yet  staves,  for  the  workman  is 

^  worthy  of  his  meat  (/)•"   This  produced  a  powerful 

effect  upon  his  mind,  made  him  consider  a  volun- 
tary and  absolute  poverty  as  the  essence  of  the 
gospel  and  the  soul  of  religion,  and  prescribe  this 
poverty  as  a  sacred  rule  both  to  himself  and  to  the 
few  that  followed  him.  Such  was  the  commence- 
ment of  the  famous  Franciscan  order,  whose 
founder  and  chief  was,  undoubtedly,  a  pious  and 
well-meaning  man,  though  grossly  ignorant,  and 
manifestly  weakened  in  his  intellect  by  the  disorder 
from  which  he  had  but  lately  recovered.  Never- 
theless the  newr  society,  which  appeared  to  Inno- 
cent III.  extremely  adapted  to  the  present  state 
of  the  church,  and  proper  to  restore  its  declining 
credit,  was  solemnly  approved  and  confirmed  by 
Honorius  III.  in  the  year  1223,  and  had  already 
made  a  considerable  progress  when  its  devout 
founder  was  called  from  this  life  in  the  year 
1226.  Francis,  through  an  excessive  humility, 
would  not  suffer  the  monks  of  his  order  to  be 
called  Fratres,  i.  e.  brethren,  or  friars,  but  Fra- 
terculi,  i.  e.  little  brethren,  or  friars-minors  («), 
by  which  denomination  they  still  continue  to  be 
distinguished  (&>)•  The  Franciscans  came  into 

(t)  Matthew  x.  9,  10. 

(u)  They  were  called  Fratricelli  by  the  Italians,  Freres 
Mineurs  by  the  French,  and  Fratres  Minores  by  the  Latin 
writers. 

(ru)  Bonaventure  wrote  a  life  of  St.  Francis,  which  has 
passed  through  several  editions.  But  the  most  ample  and 
circumstantial  accounts  of  this  extraordinary  man  are  given 
by  Luke  Wadding,  in  the  first  volume  of  his  Annal.  Minorum, 
which  contains  a  complete  history  of  the  Franciscan  order, 
confirmed  by  a  great  number  of  authentic  records,  and  the 
best  edition  of  which  is  that  published  at  Rome  in  1731,  and 
the  following  years,  in  eighteen  volumes  in  folio,  by  Joseph 
Maria  Fonseca  ab  Ebora.  It  is  to  the  same  Wadding  that 
we  are  obliged  for  the  Opuscula  Sti.  Francisci,  and  the  Bi- 
bliotheca  Ordinis  Minorum,  the  former  of  which  was  published 
in  4to.  at  Antwerp,  in  the  year  1623,  and  the  latter  at  Rome, 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

England  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  and  their  first    CENT. 

XIII. 

PART   H. 


establishment  was  at  Canterbury. 


XXVI.  These  two  celebrated  orders  restored 


cans. 


the  church  from  that  declining  condition  in  which  The  em>- 
it  had  been  languishing  for  many  years,  by  the  ces  rendered 
zeal  and  activity  with  which  they  set  themselves  ^^ 
to  discover  and  extirpate  heretics,  to  undertake  p0nTifl&  by- 
various  negotiations  and  embassies  for  the  interests  the  Dor"ini- 

/»      T         i  .  T  /»  -i  .         cans  and 

or  the  hierarchy,  and  to  confirm  the  wavering  Francis- 
multitude  in  their  implicit  obedience  to  the  Ro- 
man pontiffs.  These  ghostly  rulers,  on  the  other 
hand,  sensible  of  their  obligations  to  the  new 
monks,  which,  no  doubt,  were  very  great,  not 
only  employed  them  in  every  affair  they  looked 
upon  as  of  high  importance,  and  raised  them  to 
the  most  eminent  stations  in  the  church,  but  also 
accumulated  upon  them  employments  and  privi- 
leges, which,  if  they  enriched  them  on  the  one 
hand,  could  not  fail  to  render  them  odious  on  the 
other  (,r),  and  to  excite  the  envy  and  complaints 
of  other  ecclesiastics.  Such,  among  many  other 
extraordinary  prerogatives,  was  the  permission 

in  4to.  likewise,  in  1650.  The  other  writers,  who  have  given 
accounts  of  the  Franciscan  order,  are  mentioned  by  Jo.  Alb. 
Fabricius,  in  his  Bibliotheca  Lat.  Medii  JEvi,  torn.  ii.  p.  573. 
(x)  The  popes  were  so  infatuated  with  the  Franciscans, 
that  those  whom  they  could  not  employ  more  honourably  in 
their  civil  negotiations  or  domestic  affairs,  they  made  their 
publicans,  beadles,  &c.  See,  for  a  confirmation  of  this,  the 
following  passages  in  the  Histor.  Major,  of  Matthew  Paris : 
*  Fratres  minores  et  praedicatores  (says  he)  invitos,  ut  credi- 
mus,  jam  suos  fecit  dominus  papa,  non  sine  ordinis  eoruni 
laesione  et  scandalo,  teloniarios  et  bedellos,'  p.  634. — *  Non 
cessavit  papa  pecuniam  aggregare,  faciens  de  Fratribus  prse- 
dicatoribus  et  minoribus,  etiam  invitis,  non  jam  piscatoribus 
hominum,  sednummorum/  p. 639.  Cons.  p. 662. 664. — *  Erant 
Minores  et  Praedicatores  magnatum  consiliatores  et  nuntii, 
etiam  domini  papae  secretarii :  nimis  in  hoc  gratiam  sibi  se- 
cularem  comparantes ;'  ad  an.  1236.  p.  354 — *  Facti  sunt  eo 
tempore  Praedicatores  et  Minores  regum  consiliarii  et  nuntii 
speciales,  utsicut  quondam  mollibus  induti  in  domibus  regum 
erant,  ita  tune  qui  vilibus  vestiebantur,  in  domibus,  cameris, 
et  palatiis  essent  principum:'  ad  an.  1239.  p.  465. 


200  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church, 

CENT,    they  received  from  the  pontiffs,  of  preaching  to 
PAIIT  ii.  ^e  mu^itude,  hearing  confession,  and  pronouncing 

absolution,  without  any  licence  from  the  bishops, 

and  even  without  consulting  them  ;  to  which  we 
may  add  the  treasure  of  ample  and  extensive  in- 
dulgences, whose  distribution  was  committed  by 
the  popes  to  the  Franciscans,  as  a  mean  of  subsist- 
ence, and  a  rich  indemnification  for  their  volun- 
tary poverty  (z/).     These  acts  of  liberality  and 
marks  of  protection,  lavished  upon  the  Dominican 
and  Franciscan  friars  with  such  an  ill-judged  pro- 
fusion, as  they  overturned  the  ancient  discipline 
of  the  church,  and  were  a  manifest  encroachment 
upon  the  rights  of  the  first  and  second  orders  of 
the  ecclesiastical  rulers,   produced  the  most  un- 
happy and  bitter  dissensions  between  the  Mendi- 
cant orders  and  the  bishops.     And  these  dissen- 
sions, extending  their  contagious  influence  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  church,  excited  throughout  all 
the  European  provinces,  and  even  in  the  city  of 
Rome  (z),  under  the  very  eye  of  the  pontiffs,  the 
most   dreadful   disturbances   and    tumults.     The 
measures  taken  by  the  popes  to  appease  these  tu- 
mults were  various,  but  ineffectual ;  because  their 
principal  view  was  to  support  the  cause  of  their 
faithful   servants   and   creatures,  the    Mendicant 
friars,  and  to  maintain  them  in  the  possession  of 
their  honours  and  advantages  (#). 


(y)  See  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  iv.  p.  490.  torn.  vii.  p.  392. 
— It  is  well  known,  that  no  religious  order  had  the  distribu- 
tion of  so  many  and  such  ample  indulgences  as  the  Francis- 
cans. Nor  could  these  goodfriars  live  and  multiply  as  they  did, 
•without  some  such  source  of  profit,  since,  by  their  institution, 
they  were  to  be  destitute  of  revenues  and  possessions  of  every 
kind.  It  was  therefore  in  the  place  of  fixed  revenues,  that 
such  fat  indulgences  were  put  into  their  hands. 

(z)  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  vii.  p.  441. 

(a)  See  Jo.  Launoii  Explicata  Ecclesiae  Traditio  circa  Ca- 
nonem  omnis  utriusque  Sexus,  torn.  i.  part. I,  Opp.  p.  24-7. — 
Rich.  Simon,  Critique  de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Eccle- 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  Sec. 

XXVII.   Among  all   the  controversies  which    CENT. 
were    maintained    by   the    Mendicants,    whether  PART  n> 
against  the  bishops,  abbots,   schools,  or  other  re- 
ligious   orders,     none    was    so    famous,    as    that 
which  arose,  in  the  year  1 228,  between  the  Do-  the" 
minicans  and   the  university  of   Paris,   and  was  "^ 
prolonged,  with  various   success,    until   the  year  sity  of  Paris. 
1259.     The  Dominicans    claimed,    as  their   un- 
questionable right,  two  theological  classes  in  that 
celebrated  university,  one  of  which  had  been  taken 
from  them,  and  an  academical  law  passed,  that 
no  religious  order  should  have  what  the  Domini- 
cans demanded.     These  latter,  however,  persisted 
obstinately  in  reclaiming   the  professorship  they 
had  lost ;  while  the  doctors  of  the  university,  per- 
ceiving the  restless  and   contentious  spirit   that 
animated  their  efforts,  excluded  them  from  their 
society,  and   formed   themselves   into  a  separate 
body.     This  measure  was  considered  as  a  decla- 
ration of  war,  and,  accordingly,  the  most  vehement 
commotions  arose   between  the  contending  par- 
ties.    The  debate  was  brought  before  the  tribunal 
of  the  Roman  pontiff  in  the  year  1 255 ;  and  the 
decision,  as  might  well  have  been  expected,  was 
in  favour  of  the  monks.     Alexander  IV.  ordered 
the   university  of  Paris  not  only  to  restore  the 
Dominicans  to  their  former  place  in  that  learned 
society,  but  moreover  to  make  a  grant  to  them 
of  as    many   classes    or    professorships    as    they 
should  think  proper  to  demand.     This  unjust  and 
despotic  sentence  was  opposed  by  the  university 
with  the  utmost  vigour,  and  thus  the  contest  was 
renewed  with  double  fury.     But  the  magistrates 
of  Paris  were,   at  length,   so  terrified  and  over- 

siastiques,  par  M.  du  Pin,  torn.  i.  p.  326.  Lenfant,  Histoire 
du  Concile  de  Pise,  torn.  i.  p.  310.  torn.  ii.  p.  8. — Echardi 
Scriptores  Dominicani,  torn.  i.  p.  404-.  The  circumstances 
of  these  flaming  contests  are  mentioned  by  all  the  writers, 
both  of  this  and  the  following  centuries. 


202  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    whelmed  with  the  thundering  edicts  and  formida- 
PART  ii.  kle  mandates  of  the  exasperated  pontiff,  that,  in 

the  year  1259,  they  yielded  to  superior  force,  and 

satisfied  the  demands  not  only  of  the  Dominican, 
but  also  of  the  Franciscan  order,  in  obedience  to 
the  pope,  and  to  the  extent  of  his  commands  (/;). 
Hence  arose  that  secret  enmity,  that  silent  ill- 
will,  which  prevailed  so  long  between  the  univer- 
sity of  Paris  and  the  Mendicant  orders,  especially 
the  Dominicans,  and  which  are  not  yet  entirely 
extinguished. 

The  Domi-  XXVIII.  In  this  famous  debate  none  pleaded 
with™  for?  tne  cause  of  the  university  with  greater  spirit,  and 
midabie  asserted  its  rights  with  greater  zeal  and  activity, 

adversary.     ^^    Qui}laume    fe     $^     AmOUr,     doctor     of    the 

Sorbonne,  a  man  of  true  genius,  worthy  to  have 
lived  in  better  times,  and  capable  of  adorning  a 
more  enlightened  age.  This  vigorous  and  able 
champion  attacked  the  whole  Mendicant  tribe  in 
various  treatises  with  the  greatest  vehemence,  and 
more  especially  in  a  book  Concerning  the  Perils 
of  the  latter  Times.  He  maintained  publicly,  that 
their  discipline  was  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
precepts  of  the  gospel ;  and  that,  in  confirming 
and  approving  it,  the  popes  had  been  guilty  of 
temerity,  and  the  church  was  become  chargeable 
with  error  (c).  What  gave  occasion  to  the  re- 
markable title  of  this  famous  book  was  the  author's 
being  entirely  persuaded  that  the  prophecy  of  St. 
1  Paul,  relating  to  the  perilous  times  that  were  to 
come  in  the  last  days  (c),  was  fulfilled  in  the  esta- 

(b)  See  CJES.  Egass.  du  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn, 
iii.  p.  138.  240.  244.  248.  266,  &c.— Jo.  Cordesii,  or  (to  men- 
tion him  by  the  name  he  assumes)  Jo.  Alitophili,  Praef.  Histor. 
et  Apologetica  ad  Opera  Guilielmi  de  S.  Amore. — Antoine 
Touron,  Vie  de  S.  Thomas,  p.  134. — Waddingi  Annal.  Minor, 
torn.  iii.  p.  247.  366.  torn.  iv.  p.  14.  52.  106.  263.— Matth. 
Paris/  Histor.    Major,  ad  an.  1228,  &  Nangis  Chronicon. 
apud  Dacherium ;  Spicilegii,  torn.  iii.  p.  38. 

(c)  2  Timothy  iii.  1. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  203 

blishment  of  the  Mendicant  friars.     This  notion    CENT. 
St.  Amour  maintained  in  the  warmest  manner,  PART  ^ 

and  proved  it,  principally  from  the  book  called  the 

Everlasting  Gospel,  which  was  explained  publicly 
by  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  and  ofvwhich 
we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  more  fully  here- 
after. The  fury  and  resentment  of  the  Mendi- 
cants were  therefore  kindled  in  a  peculiar  manner 
against  this  formidable  adversary,  whom  they  per- 
secuted without  interruption,  until,  in  the  year 
1256,  Alexander  VI.  ordered  his  book  to  be 
publicly  burnt,  and  banished  its  author  out  of 
France,  lest  he  should  excite  the  Sorbonne  to 
renew  their  opposition  to  these  ghostly  beggars. 
St.  Amour  submitted  to  the  papal  edict,  and  re- 
tired into  the  Franche  Comte,  which  was  the  place 
of  his  birth ;  but,  under  the  pontificate  of  Cle- 
ment IV.  he  returned  to  Paris,  where  he  illus- 
trated the  tenets  of  his  famous  book,  in  a  more 
extensive  work,  and  died  universally  esteemed  and 
regretted  by  all  ranks  and  orders  of  men,  except 
the  Mendicants  (e). 

(e)  The  doctors  of  the  university  of  Paris  profess  still  a 
high  respect  for  the  memory  of  St.  Amour,  esteem  his  book, 
and  deny  obstinately  that  he  was  ever  placed  in  the  list  of 
heretics.  The  Dominicans,  on  the  contrary,  consider  him 
as  a  heretic  of  the  first  magnitude,  if  we  may  use  that  ex- 
.  pression.  Such  of  his  works  as  could  be  found  were  pub- 
lished in  4-to.  in  the  year  1 632,  at  Paris  (though  the  title 
bears  Constantiae)  by  Cordesius,  who  has  prefixed  to  them  a 
long  and  learned  preface,  in  which  he  defends  the  reputation 
and  orthodoxy  of  St.  Amour  in  a  triumphant  manner.  This 
learned  editor,  to  avoid  the  resentment  and  fury  of  the  Men- 
dicants, concealed  his  real  name,  and  assumed  that  of  Jo. 
Alitophilus.  This  did  not,  however,  save  his  book  from  the 
vengeance  of  these  friars,  who  obtained  from  Lewis  XIII.  in 
the  year  1633,  an  edict  for  its  suppression,  which  Touron,  a 
Dominican  friar,  has  published  in  his  Vie  de  St.  Thomas,  p. 
164>. — For  a  farther  account  of  the  life  of  this  famous  doctor, 
see  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iii.  p.  366. — Boulay,  Hist. 
Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  266. — Nat.  Alex.  Hist.  Eccles.  Saec. 
xiii.  cap.  iii.  art.  vii.  p.  95. — Rich.  Simon.  Critique  de  la 
Biblioth.  Eccles.  de  M.  Du  Pin,  torn.  r.  p.  34-5. 


204  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


cants 


XXIX.    While  the  pontiffs  accumulated  upon 
PART  ii.  the  Mendicants  the  most  honourable  distinctions, 

and  the  most  valuable  privileges  which  they  had 

The  pnde    £0  bestow,  they  exposed  them  still  more  and  more 

and  arro-  i   i  t       r     t 

gance  of     to  the  envy  and  hatred  of  the  rest  of  the  clergy  ; 

the  Mendi-  an(j  ^-g  na^re(j  was  considerably  increased  by  the 
audacious  arrogance  that  discovered  itself  every 
where  in  the  conduct  of  these  supercilious  orders. 
They  had  the  presumption  to  declare  publicly, 
that  they  had  a  divine  impulse  and  commission 
to  illustrate  and  maintain  the  religion  of  Jesus ; 
they  treated  with  the  utmost  insolence  and  con- 
tempt all  the  different  ranks  and  orders  of  the 
priesthood  ;  they  affirmed,  without  a  blush,  that 
the  true  method  of  obtaining  salvation  was  re- 
vealed to  them  alone,  proclaimed  with  ostentation 
the  superior  efficacy  and  virtue  of  their  indulgences, 
and  vaunted,  beyond  measure,  their  interests  at 
the  court  of  heaven,  and  their  familiar  connexions 
with  the  Supreme  Being,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and 
the  saints  in  glory.  By  these  impious  wiles,  they 
so  deluded  and  captivated  the  miserable  and 
blinded  multitude,  that  they  would  not  entrust 
any  others  but  the  Mendicants  with  the  care  of 
their  souls,  their  spiritual  and  eternal  concerns  (f). 
We  may  give  as  a  specimen  of  these  notorious 
frauds,  the  ridiculous  fable,  which  the  Carmelites 
impose  upon  the  credulous,  relating  to  Simon 
Stockius,  the  general  of  their  order,  who  died 
about  the  beginning  of  this  century.  To  this 
ecclesiastic,  they  tell  us,  that  the  Virgin  Mary 
appeared,  and  gave  him  a  solemn  promise,  that 
the  souls  of  such  as  left  the  world  with  the  Car- 
melite cloak  or  scapulary  upon  their  shoulders, 
should  be  infallibly  preserved  from  eternal  dam- 


(/)  See  Matth.  Paris,  ad  a.  1246,  Histor,  Major,  p.  607. 
630,  &c. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  205 

nation  (g*).     And  here  let  it  be  observed  to  the    CENT. 
astonishment  of  all,  in  whom  the  power  of  super-     XIIL 

.  •Till'  T  PART   II. 

stition  has  not  extinguished  the  plainest  dictates 
of  common  sense,  that  this  fiction,  ridiculous  and 
impious  as  it  was,  found  patrons  and  defenders 
even  among  the  pontiffs  (//). 

XXX.  It  is  however  certain,  that  the  Mendi-  Contests 
cant  orders,  though  they  were  considered  as  the 
main  pillars  of  the  hierarchy,  and  the  principal 
supports  of  the  papal  authority,  involved  the 
pontiffs,  after  the  death  of  Dominic  and  Francis, 
in  many  perplexities  and  troubles,  which  were  no 
sooner  dispelled,  than  they  were  unhappily  re- 
newed ;  and  thus  the  church  was  often  reduced 
to  a  state  of  imminent  danger.  These  tumults 
and  perplexities  began  with  the  contests  between 
the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  about  pre-emi- 
nence, in  which  these  humble  monks  loaded  each 
other  with  the  bitterest  invectives  and  the  severest 
accusations,  both  in  their  writings  and  their  dis- 
course, and  opposed  each  other's  interests  with  all 
the  fury  of  disappointed  ambition.  Many  schemes 
were  formed,  and  various  measures  were  employed, 
for  terminating  these  scandalous  dissensions  ;  but 
the  root  of  the  evil  still  remained,  and  the  flame 
was  rather  covered  than  extinguished  (£).  Besides 
this,  the  Franciscans  were  early  divided  among 
themselves,  and  split  into  several  factions,  which 


(g)  See  Jo.  Launoii  Lib.  de  Viso  Stockii  Oper.  torn.  ii. 
part.  II.  p.  379. — Acta  Sanctor.  torn.  iii.  Mensis  Maii  ad 
diem  xvi. — Theoph.  Rainaudi  Scapulare  Marianum,  torn.  vii. 
opp.  p.  614. 

(A)  The  late  pope  Benedict  XIV.  notwithstanding  his 
pretended  freedom  from  superstition  and  priestly  fraud,  has 
deigned  to  appear  among  the  supporters  of  this  gross  fiction, 
though  he  defends  it  with  his  usual  air  of  prudence  and 
timidity,  in  his  book  De  Festis  B.  Mariae  Virg.  lib.  ii.  cap.vi. 
p.  472.  torn.  x.  opp.  edit.  Rom. 

(0  See  the  Alcoran  des  Cordeliers,  torn.  i.  p.  256.  266. 
278,  &c.  Luc.  Waddingi  Annales  Minor,  torn.  iii.  p.  380. 


206  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CBNT.    gathered  strength  and  consistence  from  day  to  day, 

and   not    only  disturbed   the  tranquillity  of  the 
i       11  i         i  ...... 

. church,  but  struck  at  the  supreme  jurisdiction  and 

prerogatives  of  the  Roman  pontiffs.  And  who- 
ever considers  with  attention  the  series  of  events 
that  happened  in  the  Latin  church  from  this 
remarkable  period,  will  be  fully  convinced  that  the 
Mendicant  orders,  whether  through  imprudence 
or  design  we  shall  not  determine,  gave  several 
mortal  blows  to  the  authority  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  excited  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
those  ardent  desires  of  a  reformation  in  the 
church,  which  produced,  in  after-times,  such  sub- 
stantial and  such  glorious  effects. 

intestine  XXXI.  The  occasion  of  these  intestine  divi- 
amongUie  si°ns  among  the  Franciscans  was  a  dispute  about 
Francis-  the  precise  meaning  of  their  rule.  Their  founder 
sloned0^"  an^  chief  had  made  absolute  poverty  one  of  their 
different  ex-  indispensable  obligations.  The  religious  orders 
before  his  time  were  so  constituted,  that,  though 
no  single  monk  had  any  personal  property,  yet  the 
whole  community,  considered  as  one  collective 
body,  had  possessions  and  revenues,  from  whence 
each  individual  drew  the  means  of  his  subsistence. 
But  the  austere  chief  of  the  Franciscans  abso- 
lutely prohibited  both  separate  and  collective  pro- 
perty to  the  monks  of  his  order ;  and  neither  the 
individual  nor  the  community  were  permitted  to 
possess  either  fund,  revenue,  or  any  worldly 
goods  (&).  This  injunction  appeared  so  severe  to 
several  of  the  Friars  minors,  that  they  took  the 
liberty  to  dispense  with  it  as  soon  as  their  founder 
was  dead ;  and  in  this  they  were  seconded  by  the 

(k)  The  words  of  the  rule  itself  relating  to  this  point  are  as 
follow:  C.  vi.  "  Fratres  sibi  nihil  approprient,nec  domum,  nee 
locum,  nee  aliquam  rem :  sed  sicut  peregrini  et  advenae  in  hoc 
saeculo,  in  paupertate  ethumilitatefamulantesDomino,  vadant 
pro  eleemosyna  confidenter — (i.e.  let  them  be  sturdy  beggars) 
— Haec  est  ilia  celsitudo  altissimae  paupertatis,  quse  vos  carissi- 
mos  meos  fratres  haeredes  et  reges  regni  crelorum  instituit." 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

Roman  pontiff,  Gregory  IX.  who  in  the  year  CENT. 
1231,  published  an  interpretation  of  this  rule,  xl1 
which  mitigated  considerably  its  excessive  rigour, 
(/).  But  this  mitigation  was  far  from  being 
agreeable  to  all  the  Franciscans ;  it  shocked  the 
austere  monks  of  that  order,  those  particularly 
who  were  called  the  Spiritual  (w)>  whose  melan- 
choly temper  rendered  them  fond  of  every  thing 
harsh  and  gloomy,  and  whose  fanatical  spirit 
hurried  them  always  into  extremes.  Hence  arose 
a  warm  debate,  which  Innocent  IV.  decided,  in 
the  year  1245,  in  favour  of  those  who  were  for 
mitigating  the  severity  of  the  rule  in  question. 
By  this  decree  of  the  pontiff  it  was  enacted,  that 
the  Franciscan  friars  should  be  permitted  to 
possess  certain  places,  habitations,  goods,  and 
chatties,  books,  &c.  and  to  make  use  of  them, 
but  that  the  property  of  all  these  things  should 
reside  in  St.  Peter  or  the  Roman  church  ;  so 
that  without  the  consent  of  the  Roman  pontiff 
they  might  neither  be  sold,  changed,  nor  trans- 
ferred, under  any  pretext  whatsoever.  This  edict 
was  considered  by  the  gloomy  part  of  the  order 
as  a  most  pernicious  depravation  of  their  holy 
rule  ;  and  was,  consequently,  opposed  and  rejected 
by  them  with  indignation.  Hence  many  of  these 
spiritual  malcontents  retired  into  the  woods  and 
deserts,  while  others  were  apprehended,  by  Cre- 
scentius,  the  general  of  the  society,  and  sent  into 
exile  (72). 

XXXII.  The  face  of  affairs  was,  however, 
soon  changed  in  their  favour,  when,  in  the  year 

(I)  This  bull  was  published  by  Emmanuel  Roderic,  in  his 
Collectio  Privilegiorum  regularium  Mendicantium,  et  non 
Mendicantium,  torn.  i.  p.  8. 

(m)  Luc.  Waddingii  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iii.  p.  99.  they 
were  also  called  Zelatores,  and  Caesarians,  from  their  chief, 
Caesarius. 

(n)  Luc.  Waddingii  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  128.  and 
torn.  iii.  p.  171. 


PART 


208  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  1247,  John  of  Parma  was  chosen  general  of  the 
order.  This  famous  ecclesiastic,  who  was  zea- 
lously attached  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Spiritual, 
recalled  them  from  their  exile,  and  inculcated 
upon  all  his  monks  a  strict  and  unlimited  obe- 
dience to  the  very  letter  of  the  rule  that  had  been 
drawn  up  by  St.  Francis  (o).  By  this  reform,  he 
brought  back  the  order  to  its  primitive  state  ; 
and  the  only  reward  he  obtained  for  his  zealous 
labours  was  to  be  accused  as  a  rebellious  heretic  at 
the  tribunal  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  Alexander  IV. 
in  consequence  of  which  he  was  obliged  to  re- 
sign his  post.  He  had  also  the  mortification  to 
see  the  monks  who  adhered  to  his  sentiments 
cast  into  prison,  which  unhappy  lot  he  himself 
escaped  with  great  difficulty  (^?).  His  successor, 
the  famous  Bonaventura,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  eminent  scholastic  divines  of  this  century, 
proposed  steering  a  middle  course  between  the 
two  contending  factions,  having  nothing  so  much 
at  heart  as  to  prevent  an  open  schism.  Never- 
theless, the  measures  he  took  to  reconcile  the 
jarring  parties,  and  to  maintain  a  spirit  of  union 
in  the  order,  were  not  attended  with  that  degree 
of  success  which  he  expected  from  them  ;  nor 
were  they  sufficient  to  hinder  the  less  austere  part 
of  the  Franciscans  from  soliciting  and  obtain- 
ing, in  the  year  1247,  from  Alexander  IV.  a 
solemn  renewal  of  the  mild  interpretation  which 
Innocent  IV.  had  given  of  the  rule  of  their 
founder  (7).  On  the  other  hand,  the  faction  that 
adhered  to  the  sentiments  of  John  of  Parma, 
maintained  their  cause  with  such  success,  that,  in 
an  assembly  of  the  order,  held  in  the  year  1260, 
the  explication  of  Innocent  was  abrogated  and 
annulled,  especially  in  those  points  wherein  it 

(o)  Luc.  Waddingii  Armal.  Minor,  torn.  iii.  p.  171. 
(p)  Id.  ibid.  torn.  iv.  p.  4. 

(7)  This  edict  of  Alexander  IV.  is  published   by  Wad- 
dingius,  Annal.  Min.  torn.  iv.  p.  446.  among  the  Records. 


CHAP.  ii.      Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  209 

differed  from  that  which  had  been  formerly  given    CENT. 
by  Gregory  IX  (?). 

XXXIII.    This   dispute  concerning  the   true 


' 


sense  of  the  rule  of  St.  Francis  was  followed  by  Another 
another  of  equal   moment,  which  produced  new  ^se^amon 
and  unhappy  divisions  among  the  monks  of  that  the  Francis 
order.      About  the  commencement  of  this  cen-  ceming°the 
tury,  there  were  handed   about  in  Italy  several  Everlasting 
pretended    prophecies   of   the   famous   Joachim,  SeTwwf 
abbot  of  Sora  in   Calabria  (r),    whom  the  mul-  Joachim. 
titude  revered  as  a  person  divinely  inspired,  and 
equal  to  the  most  illustrious  prophets  of  ancient 
times.    The  greatest  part  of  these  predictions  were 
contained  in  a  certain  book,   entitled,   The  Ever- 
lasting   Gospel,   and  which  was   also    commonly 
called,  The  Book  of  Joachim  ($).     This  Joachim, 

(q)  The  interpretation  of  Gregory  mitigated  the  rule  of 
St.  Francis  ;  but  that  of  Innocent  went  much  farther,  and 
seemed  to  destroy  its  fundamental  principles.  See  Wad- 
dingi  Annales  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  123,  The  lamentable  divi- 
sions that  reigned  among  the  monks  of  this  famous  order 
are  described,  in  an  accurate  and  lively  manner,  by  Bona- 
ventura  himself,  in  a  letter,  which  is  extant  in  the  Annales 
now  cited,  tom.iv.  p.  58. 

EUp0  (r)  The  resemblance  that  there  is  between  the  words 
Sora  and  Flora  has  probably  led  Dr,  Mosheim  here  into  a 
slight  mistake,  Sora  is  not  in  Calabria,  but  in  the  province 
of  Capua.  It  must  therefore  have  been  Flora,  that  our 
author  intended  to  write,  as  Spanheim,,  Fleury,  and  other 
ecclesiastical  historians  have  done. 

(s)  The  Merlin  of  the  English,  the  Malachy  of  the  Irish, 
and  Nostradamus  of  the  French,  those  pretended  sooth- 
sayers, who,  under  the  illusory,  or  feigned  persuasion  of  a 
divine  impulse,  sung,  in  uncouth  verse,  the  future  revolutions 
of  church  and  state,  are  just  what  we  may  suppose  the  Joa- 
chim of  the  Italians  to  have  been.  Many  predictions  of  this 
latter  were  formerly  handed  about,  and  are  still  to  be  seen  ; 
nay,  they  have  passed  through  various  editions,  and  have 
been  illustrated  by  the  lucubrations  of  several  commentators. 
It  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  Joachim  was  the  author  of 
various  predictions  ;  and  that  he,  in  a  particular  manner, 
foretold  the  reformation  of  the  church,  of  which  he  might 
easily  see  the  absolute  necessity.  It  is  however  certain, 
that  the  greatest  part  of  the  predictions  and  writings,  which 
VOL.  III.  p 


210  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

•CENT,  whether  a  real  or  fictitious  person  we  shall  m5t 
XIIL  pretend  to  determine,  among  many  other  future 

PART  IT.  eventS)  foretold  the  destruction  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  whose  corruptions  he  censured  with  the 
greatest  severity,  and  the  promulgation  of  a  new 
and  more  perfect  gospel  in  the  age  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  by  a  set  of  poor  and  austere  ministers, 
whom  God  was  to  raise  up  and  employ  for  that 
purpose.  For  he  divided  the  world  into  three 
ages,  relative  to  the  three  dispensations  of  religion 
that  were  to  succeed  each  other  in  it.  The  two 
imperfect  ages,  to  wit,  the  age  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  was  that  of  the  Father,  and  the  age 
of  the  New,  which  was  under  the  administration 
of  the  Son,  were,  according  to  the  predictions  of 
this  fanatic,  now  past,  and  the  third  age,  even  that 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  at  hand.  The  Spiritual, 
i.  e.  the  austere  Franciscans,  wTho  were,  for  the 
most  part,  well-meaning,  but  wrong-headed  enthu- 
siasts, not  only  swallowed  down,  with  the  most 
voracious  and  implicit  credulity,  the  prophecies 
and  doctrines  that  were  attributed  to  Joachim, 
but  applied  these  predictions  to  themselves,  and  to 
the  rule  of  discipline  established  by  their  holy 
founder  St.  Francis  (t)  ;  for  they  maintained,  that 

were  formerly  attributed  to  him,  were  composed  by  others; 
and  this  we  may  affirm  even  of  the  Everlasting  Gospel,  the 
work,  undoubtedly,  of  some  obscure,  silly,  and  visionary 
author,  who  thought  proper  to  adorn  his  reveries  with  the 
celebrated  name  of  Joachim,  in  order  to  gain  them  credit, 
and  to  render  them  more  agreeable  to  the  multitude.  The 
title  of  this  senseless  production  is  taken  from  Revelations 
xiv.  6.  and  it  contained  three  books ;  the  first  was  entitled, 
Liber  Concordize  veritatis,  t.  e.  The  book  of  the  Harmony 
of  Truth ;  the  second,  Apocalypsis  Nova,  or  New  Revela- 
tions ;  and  the  third,  Psalterium  decem  Chordarum,  i.  e. 
The  Ten-stringed  Harp.  This  account  was  taken  from  a 
manuscript  of  that  work,  in  the  library  of  the  Sorbonne,  by 
Jac.  Echard,  who  has  published  it  in  his  Scriptores  Dominic, 
torn.  i.  p.  202. 

{t)  This  is  acknowledged  even  by  Wadding,  notwith- 
standing his  partiality  in  favour  of  the  spiritual  or  austere 
Franciscans.  See  his  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  3 — 6. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Churc'h-Governme7it,  &c.  211 


he  delivered  to  mankind  the  true  gospel,  and  that 

he  was  the  angel  whom  St.  John  saw  flying  in  the  PART  n< 

midst  of  heaven  (u). 


con- 
demned. 


XXXIV.  At  the  very  time  that  the  intestine  Gerhard's 
divisions  among  the  Franciscans  were  at  the  great- 
est  height,  one  of  the  Spiritual  friars,  whose  name 
was  Gerhard,  undertook  the  explication  of  the 
Everlasting  Gospel  attributed  to  Joachim,  in  a 
book  which  appeared  in  the  year  1250,  under  the 
title  of  Introduction  to  the  Everlasting  Gospel  (w). 

(M)  Revel,  xiv.  6.  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the 
midst  of  heaven  having  the  Everlasting  Gospel  to  preach 
unto  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth,  &c.  —  See  on  this  subject 
Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  221.  228.  235.  246.—  Echardi 
Scriptor.  Dominic,  torn.  i.  p.  202.  —  Codex  Inquisit.  Tholo- 
sanse  a  Limborchio  edit.  p.  301,  302.  305,  &c. 

(w;)  As  the  accounts  given  of  this  book,  by  ancient  and 
modern  writers,  are  not  sufficiently  accurate,  it  may  not  be 
improper  to  offer  here  some  observations  that  may  correct 
their  mistakes.  I  .  They  almost  all  confound  the  Everlast- 
ing Gospel,  or  The  Gospel  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  (for  so  it  was 
also  called,  as  we  are  told  by  Guill.  de  St.  Amour,  in  his 
book  De  Periculis  noviss.  Tempor.  p.  38.)  with  the  Intro- 
duction to  the  Everlasting  Gospel.  But  these  two  produc- 
tions must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  each  other.  The 
Everlasting  Gospel  was  attributed  to  the  abbot  Joachim, 
and  it  consisted  of  three  books,  as  has  been  already  ob- 
served. But  the  Introduction  to  this  Gospel  was  the  work 
of  a  certain  Franciscan  monk,  who  explained  the  obscure 
predictions  of  the  pretended  Gospel,  and  applied  them  to 
his  order.  The  Everlasting  Gospel  was  neither  complained 
of  by  the  university  of  Paris,  nor  condemned  by  the  Roman 
pontiff,  Alexander  IV.,  but  the  Introduction  was  complained 
of,  condemned,  and  burnt,  as  appears  evidently  from  the 
letters  of  the  above-mentioned  pontiff,  which  are  to  be  seen 
in  Boulay's  Histor.  Academ.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  292.  The 
former  consisted,  as  productions  of  that  nature  generally  do, 
in  ambiguous  predictions  and  intricate  riddles,  and  was  con- 
sequently despised  or  neglected  ;  but  the  latter  was  danger- 
ous in  many  respects.  2.  It  is  farther  to  be  observed,  that 
the  ancient  writers  are  not  agreed  concerning  the  author  of 
this  Introduction.  They  are  unanimous  in  attributing  it  to 
one  of  the  Mendicant  friars  ;  but  the  votaries  of  St.  Francis 
maintain,  that  the  author  was  a  Dominican  ;  while  the  Do- 
minican party  affirm  as  obstinately,  that  he  was  a  Franciscan. 
k  is  however  certain,  that  the  greatest  part  of  the  learned 

P  2 


12  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

ENT.    In  this  book  the  fanatical    monk,   among    other 


PART 


jj  enormities,  as  insipid  as  impious,  inculcated  the 


are  of  opinion,  that  the  author  of  the  infamous  work  in 
question  was  John  of  Parma,  general  of  the  Franciscans, 
who  is  known  to  have  been  most  warmly  attached  to  the 
spiritual  faction  of  that  order,  and  to  have  maintained  the 
sentiments  of  the  abbot  Joachim  with  an  excessive  zeal. 
See  Luc.  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  9.  who  endea- 
vours to  defend  him  against  this  accusation,  though  without 
success.  (See  also  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  torn.  iii.  Martii, 
p.  157  :  for  John  of  Parma,  though  he  preferred  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Francis  to  that  of  Christ,  has,  nevertheless,  obtained 
a  place  among  the  saints.)  The  learned  Echard  is  of  a  dif- 
ferent opinion,  and  has  proved,  in  his  Scriptor.  Dominican, 
torn.  i.  p.  202,  203.  from  the  curious  manuscripts  yet  pre- 
served in  the  Sorbonne,  relating  to  the  Everlasting  Gospel, 
that  Gerhard,  a  Franciscan  friar,  was  the  author  of  the  in- 
famous Introduction  to  that  book.  This  Gerhard,  indeed, 
was  the  intimate  friend  and  companion  of  John  of  Parma, 
and  not  only  maintained,  with  the  greatest  obstinacy,  the 
cause  of  the  spiritual,  but  also  embraced  all  the  sentiments 
that  were  attributed  to  the  abbot  Joachim,  with  such  an 
ardent  zeal,  that  he  chose  to  remain  eighteen  years  in 
prison,  rather  than  to  abandon  them.  See  \X7addingii  Annal. 
Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  4.  7-  The  Franciscans,  who  were  called 
observantes,  i.  e.  vigilant,  from  their  professing  a  more  rigid 
observance  of  the  rule  of  their  founder  than  was  practised 
by  the  rest  of  their  order,  place  Gerhard  among  the  saints 
of  the  first  rank,  and  impudently  affirm,  that  he  was  not  only 
endowed  with  the  gift  of  prophecy,  but  also  with  the  power 
of  working  miracles.  See  Waddingii  Annales  Min.  torn.  iii. 
p.  213,  214.  It  is  to  be  observed,  3dly,  That  whoever  may 
have  been  the  writer  of  this  detestable  book,  the  whole  Men- 
dicant order,  in  the  judgment  of  the  greatest  part  of  the 
historians  of  this  age,  shared  the  guilt  of  its  composition  and 
publication,  more  especially  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans, 
who  are  supposed  to  have  fallen  upon  this  impious  method  of 
deluding  the  multitude  into  a  high  notion  of  their  sanctity, 
in  order  thus  to  establish  their  dominion,,  and  to  extend 
their  authority  beyond  all  bounds.  This  opinion,  however, 
is  ill-founded,  notwithstanding  the  numbers  by  which  it  has 
been  adopted.  The  Franciscans  alone  are  chargeable  with 
the  guilt  of  this  horrid  production,  as  appears  most  evidently 
from  the  fragments  of  the  book  itself,  which  yet  remain  ;  but 
we  are  obliged  in  justice  to  observe  farther,  that  this  guilt 
does  not  even  lie  upon  all  the  Franciscans,  but  only  on  that 
faction  of  the  order,  which  is  known  under  the  title  of  the 
Spiritual.  Perhaps  we  might  go  still  farther,  and  allege^ 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

following  detestable  doctrine  :  "  That  St.  Francis,    CENT. 

"  who  was  the  angel  mentioned  in  the  Revela- 

"  tions,  xiv.  6.  had  promulgated  to  the  world  the 

"  true  and  everlasting  gospel  of  God  ;  that  the 

"  gospel  of  Christ  was  to  be   abrogated  in  the 

"  year  1260,  and  to  give  place  to  this  new  and 

"  everlasting  gospel,  which  was  to  be  substituted 

"  in  its  room  ;    and  that  the  ministers  of   this 

"  great  reformation  were  to  be  humble  and  bare- 

"  footed  friars,  destitute   of  all    worldly  ernolu- 

"  ments  (#)."      When   this   strange    book   was 

published  at  Paris  in  the  year   1254,  it  excited 

in  the  doctors  of  the  church,  and,  indeed,  in  all 

good  men,  the  most  lively  feelings  of  horror  and 

indignation   against   the    Mendicant   friars,  who 

that  the  charge  ought  not  to  be  extended  even  to  all  the 
members  of  this  faction,  but  to  such  alone  as  placed  an  idle 
and  enthusiastic  confidence  in  the  abbot  Joachim,  and  gave 
credit  to  all  his  pretended  prophecies.  These  observations 
are  necessary  to  the  true  understanding  of  what  has  been 
said  concerning  the  Everlasting  Gospel  by  the  following 
learned  men ;  Jo.  Andr.  Schmidius,  Singular.  Dissertat. 
Helmst.  1700,  in  4to. — Usserius,  De  Successione  Ecclesiar. 
Occident,  c.  ix.  sect.  20.  p.  337. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris, 
torn.  iii.  p.  292. — Natal.  Alexander,  Histor.  Eccles.  Saec. 
xiii.  Artie,  iv.  p.  78. — Luc.  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv. 
p.  9. — Upon  the  whole,  it  may  be  affirmed,  that  the  book 
under  consideration  is  not,  as  the  greatest  part  of  the 
learned  have  imagined,  a  monument  of  the  arrogance  of  the 
Mendicant  orders,  but  rather  a  proof  of  the  impious  fanati- 
cism and  extravagance  of  a  handful  of  Franciscans. 

(x)  See  Guil.  de  St.  Amore,  De  Periculis  noviss.  Tempor. 
p.  38,  39.  who  observes,  that  the  book  under  consideration 
was  not  indeed  published  before  the  year  1254,  but  that  the 
opinions  contained  in  it  had  an  earlier  origin,  and  were  pro- 
pagated even  in  the  year  1200.  Several  of  the  ancient 
writers  have  given  large  extracts  from  this  infamous  book, 
see  Herm.  Corneri  Chronicon,  in  Eccardi  Corpore  Histor. 
Medii  ^vi,  torn.  ii.  p.  850. — Chronicon  Egmondanum,  in 
Ant.  Matthaei  Analectis  Veteris TEvi,  torn.  ii.  p.  517. — Rico- 
baldus  apud  Eccardum,  loc.  cit.  torn.  i.  p.  1215. — But  there 
is  a  great  difference  between  these  extracts,  which  seems  to 
have  arisen  from  this,  that  some  drew  their  citations  from 
the  Everlasting  Gospel  of  Joachim,  while  others  drew  theirs 
from  the  Introduction  of  Gerhard,  not  sufficiently  distin- 
guishing the  one  work  from  the  other. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    had  already  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  public 
on  other  accounts.     This  universal  ferment  en- 


F  gaged  the  Roman  pontiff,  Alexander  IV.  though 


much  against  his  will,  to  order  the  suppression 
of  this  ahsurd  book  in  the  year  1  %55  ;  he,  how- 
ever, took  care  to  have  this  order  executed  with 
the  greatest  possible  mildness,  lest  it  should  hurt 
the  reputation  of  the  Mendicants,  and  open  the 
eyes  of  the  superstitious  multitude.  But  the 
university  of  Paris  was  not  satisfied  with  these 
gentle  and  timorous  proceedings ;  and  conse- 
quently its  doctors  repeated  without  interrup- 
tion their  accusations  and  complaints,  until  the 
extravagant  production,  that  had  given  such  just 
and  general  offence,  was  publicly  committed  to  the 
flames  (y). 

XXXV.  The  intestine  flame  of  discord,  that 
of  Nicolas  had  raged  among  the  Franciscans,  and  was  smo- 
to iheruie3  thered,  though  not  extinguished,  by  the  prudent 
of  st.  Fra»-  management  of  Bonaventura,  broke  out  anew 
with  redoubled  fury  after  the  death  of  that  pacific 
doctor.  The  Franciscan  monks,  who  were  fond 
of  opulence  and  ease,  renewed  their  complaints 
against  the  rule  of  their  founder,  as  unreasonable 
and  unjust,  demanding  what  it  was  absolutely 
beyond  the  power  of  man  to  perform.  Their 
complaints,  however,  were  without  effect ;  and 
their  schemes  were  disconcerted  by  the  Roman 
pontiff,  Nicolas  III.  who  leaned  to  the  side  of  the 
austere  Franciscans  ;  and,  in  the  year  1279,  pub- 
lished that  famous  constitution,  which  confirmed 
the  rule  of  St.  Francis,  and  contained  an  accu- 
rate and  elaborate  explication  of  the  maxims  it 
recommended,  and  the  duties  it  prescribed  (#). 
By  this  edict,  the  pontiff  renewed  that  part  of  the 

(y)  See  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  299. — 
Jordan!  Chronicon,  in  Muratorii  Antiq.  Ital.  torn.  iv.  p.  998. 

(z)  Some  affirm,  that  this  famous  Constitution  was  issued 
out  by  Nicolas  IV.  but  their  opinion  is  refuted  by  Wadding 4 
in  his  Annal.  Min.  torn.  v.  p.  73. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-G  Governments  &c. 

rule,  that  prohibited  all  kinds  of  property  among  CENT. 
the  Franciscans,  every  thing  that  bore  the  least 
resemblance  of  a  legal  possession,  or  a  fixed 
domain ;  but  he  granted  to  them,  at  the  same 
time,  the  use  of  things  necessary,  such  as  houses, 
books,  and  other  conveniences  of  that  nature,  the 
property  of  which,  in  conformity  with  the  ap- 
pointment of  Innocent  IV.  was  to  reside  in  the 
church  of  Rome.  Nor  did  the  provident  pontiff 
stop  here ;  but  prohibited,  under  the  severest 
penalties,  all  private  explications  of  this  new  law, 
lest  they  should  excite  disputes,  and  furnish  new 
matter  of  contention  ;  and  reserved  the  power  of 
interpreting  it  to  himself  alone,  and  to  his  suc- 
cessors in  the  pontificate  (a). 

XXXVI.    However  disposed   Nicolas   was   to  Excites  new 
satisfy  the  Spiritual,  and  austere  part  of  the  Fran- troubles  and 

*  ,     L         ,  .   ,'  exasperates 

ciscan  order,  which  was  now  become  numerous  the  spiri- 
both  in  Italy  and  France,  and  particularly  in  the  tual* 
province  of  Narbonne,  the  constitution  above-men- 
tioned was  far  from  producing  that  effect.  The 
monks  of  that  gloomy  faction  that  resided  in  Italy, 
received  the  papal  edict  with  a  sullen  and  discon- 
tented silence.  Their  brethren  in  France,  and 
more  especially  in  the  southern  parts  of  that  king- 
dom, where  the  inhabitants  are  of  a  warm  and 
sanguine  complexion,  testified,  in  an  open  and 
tumultuous  manner,  their  disapprobation  of  this 
new  constitution,  and  having  at  their  head  a 
famous  Franciscan,  whose  name  was  Jean  Pierre 
d'  Olive,  they  excited  new  dissensions  and  troubles 
in  the  order  (&).  This  Pierre  d' Olive  was  a 
native  of  Serignan  in  Languedoc,  who  had  ac- 


(a)  This  constitution  is  yet  extant  in  the  Jus  Canon.  Lib. 
vi.  Decretal.  Tit.  xii.  c.  iii.  p.  1028,  edit.  Bohmerianae,  and  is 
vulgarly  called  the  Constitution  Exiit,  from  its  beginning 
thus :  Exiit,  &c. 

(b)  In  some  ancient  records,  this  ringleader  is  called  Pe- 
trus  Bctterrensis,  i.  e.  Peter  of  Beziers,  because  he  resided 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  quired  a  shining  reputation  by  his  writings,  and 
wnose  eminent  sanctity  and  learning  drew  after 
him  a  great  number  of  followers  ;  nor  is  it  to  be 
denied,  that  there  were  many  important  truths 
and  wise  maxims  in  the  instructions  he  delivered. 
One  of  the  great  objects,  which  he  never  lost 
sight  of  in  his  writings,  was  the  corruption  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  which  he  censured  with  a  pecu- 
liar freedom  and  seventy,  in  a  work  entitled, 
Postilla,  or  A  Commentary  on  the  Revelations, 
affirming  boldly,  that  that  church  was  represented 
by  the  whore  of  Babylon,  the  mother  of  harlots, 
whom  St.  John  beheld  sitting  upon  a  scarlet-co- 
loured beast,  full  of  names  of  blasphemy,  having 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns  (c).  It  is,  however,  to 
be  observed,  that  this  severe  censor  of  a  corrupt 
church  was,  himself,  a  most  superstitious  fanatic 
in  several  respects,  having  imbibed  the  greatest 
part  of  those  monstrous  opinions,  which  the  Spi- 
ritual pretended  to  have  received  from  the  abbot 
Joachim  ;  to  which  he  added  an  impious  and  ex- 
travagant veneration  for  St.  Francis,  whom  he  con- 
sidered as  wholly  and  entirely  transformed  into 
the  person  of  Christ  (d).  In  the  debate  concern- 
ing the  sense  of  the  rule  of  this  famous  chief,  he 
seemed  to  adhere  to  neither  of  the  contending 
parties  ;  for  he  allowed  his  followers  the  bare  use 
of  the  necessaries  of  life  ;  and  being  called  upon, 
at  different  times,  by  the  authority  of  his  superiors, 
to  declare  his  sentiments  upon  this  head,  he  pro- 


for  a  long  time  in  the  convent  of  Beziers,  where  he  per- 
formed the  functions  of  a  public  teacher.  By  others,  he  is 
named  Petrus  de  Serignano,  from  the  place  of  his  nativity. 
This  remark  is  so  much  the  more  necessary,  as  certain 
authors  have  taken  these  three  denominations  for  three  di- 
stinct persons. 

(c)  Revelations  xvii.  3,  4,  5. 

(d)  Totum  Christo  configuratum.     See  the  Litera  Magi- 
strorum  de  Postilla  Fratris  P.  Job.  Olivi,  in  Baluzii  Miscelhm. 
torn.  i.  p.  213. — Waddingi  Annales  Minor,  torn.  v.  p.  51. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

fessed  his  assent  to  the  interpretation  that  had  been    CENT. 
given  of  the  rule  in  question  by  Nicolas  III.     He     x 

leaned,  nevertheless,  to  the  side  of  those  austere [ 

and  Spiritual  Franciscans,  who  not  only  opposed 
the  introduction  of  property  among  the  indivi- 
duals of  the  order,  but  also  maintained,  that  the 
whole  community,  considered  collectively,  was 
likewise  to  be  excluded  from  possessions  of  every 
kind.  His  zeal  for  these  gloomy  Franciscans  was 
great,  and  he  defended  their  cause  with  warmth 
(e)  ;  hence  he  is  looked  upon  as  the  chief  of  that 
faction,  which  disputed  so  often,  and  so  vehe- 
mently, with  the  Roman  pontiffs,  in  favour  of  the 
renunciation  of  property,  in  consequence  of  the 
institution  of  St.  Francis  (/*). 

XXXVII.  The  credit  and  authority  of  Pierre  Continua- 
d' Olive,    whom    the    multitude    considered,    not  J!°n  °,f 

/«         i  i        •  i      i  »!  i       these  de- 

only  as  a  man  or  unblemished  sanctity,  but  also  bates. 
as  a  prophet  sent  from  above,  added  new  force 
and  vigour  to  the  Spiritual,  and  encouraged  them 
to  renew  the  combat  with  redoubled  fury.  But 
the  prudence  of  the  heads  of  the  order  prevented, 
for  some  time,  the  pernicious  effects  of  these 

(e)  The  real  sentiments  of  Pierre  d'Olive  will  be  best 
discovered  in  the  last  discourse  he  pronounced,  which  is  yet 
extant  in  Boulay's  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  535.  and 
in  Wadding's  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  v.  p.  378. 

(/)  For  an  account  of  this  famous  friar,  see  not  only  the 
common  monastic  historians,  such  as  Raynaldus,  Alexander, 
and  Oudinus,  but  also  the  following  :  Baluzii  Miscell.  torn.  i. 
p.  213.  and  in  Vitis  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn,  ii.  p.  752. — Car. 
Plessis  d'Argentre,  Collectio  Judiciorum  de  novis  Ecclesiae 
Erroribus,  torn.  i.  p.  226. — Wadding,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  v. 
p.  52. 108. 121.  HO.  236.  and  more  especially  p.  378.  where 
he  makes  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  justify  this  enthusiast. — 
Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  535. — Schelhornii 
Amcenitates  Litterariae,  torn.  ix.  p.  678.  Histoire  Generale 
dc  Languedoc,  par  les  Moines  Benedictins,  torn.  iv.  p.  91 . 1 79. 
182.  The  bones  of  Pierre  d'Olive  were  raised  by  the  order  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff  John  XXII.  and  burnt  publicly  with  his 
writings,  in  the  year  1325.  See  Raynald.  ad  an.  1325. 
sect.  20. 


218  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  violent  efforts,  and  so  over-ruled  the  impetuous 
1"!  m°ti°ns  °f  this  enthusiastic  faction,  that  a  sort 
1  of  equality  was  preserved  between  the  contending 
parties.  But  the  promotion  of  Matthew  of  Aqua 
Sparta,  who  was  elected  general  of  the  order  in 
the  year  1287,  put  an  end  to  these  prudential 
measures,  and  changed  entirely  the  face  of  affairs. 
This  new  chief  suffered  the  ancient  discipline  of 
the  Franciscans  to  dwindle  away  to  nothing,  in- 
dulged his  monks  in  abandoning  even  the  very 
appearance  of  poverty,  and  thus  drew  upon  him 
not  only  the  indignation  and  rage  of  the  austerer 
part  of  the  Spiritual  Franciscans,  but  also  the 
disapprobation  of  the  more  moderate  members  of 
that  party.  Hence  arose  various  tumults  and 
seditions,  first  in  the  marquisate  of  Ancona,  and 
afterwards  in  France,  which  the  new  general 
endeavoured  to  suppress  by  imprisonment,  exile, 
and  corporal  punishments ;  but,  finding  all  these 
means  ineffectual,  resigned  his  place  in  the  year 
1289  ($')•  His  successor  Raymond  Goffredi  em- 
ployed his  utmost  efforts  to  appease  these  trou- 
bles. For  this  purpose  he  recalled  the  banished 
friars,  set  at  liberty  those  that  had  been  cast  into 
prison,  and  put  out  of  the  way  several  of  the 
austerer  Franciscans,  who  had  been  the  principal 
fomenters  of  these  unhappy  divisions,  by  sending 
them  into  Armenia  in  the  character  of  missionaries. 
But  the  disorder  was  too  far  gone  to  admit  of  a 
remedy.  The  more  moderate  Franciscans,  who 
had  a  relish  for  the  sweets  of  property  and 
opulence,  accused  the  new  general  of  a  partial 
attachment  to  the  Spiritual,  whom  he  treated 
with  peculiar  affection  and  respect,  and  therefore 
employed  their  whole  credit  to  get  him  removed 
from  his  office,  which,  with  much  difficulty, 
they,  at  length,  effected,  under  the  pontificate  of 

(g)  Waddingi  Annales  Min.  torn.  v.  p.  210,  211.  235. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  219 

Boniface  VIII.      On  the  other  hand,  the  more    CENT. 
rigid  part  of  the  Spiritual  faction  renounced  all 
fellowship,  even  with  such  of  their  own  party  as , 
discovered  a  pacific  and  reconciling  spirit;  and 
forming  themselves  into  a  separate  body,  protested 
publicly  against  the  interpretation  which  Nicolas 

III.  had  given  of  the  rule  of  St.  Francis.     Thus, 
from  the  year  1290,  the  affairs  of  the  Franciscans 
carried  a  dismal  aspect,  and  portended  nothing 
else  than  seditions  and  schisms  in  an  order,  that 
had  been  so  famous  for  its  pretended  disinterested- 
ness and  humility  (h). 

XXXVIII.  In  the  year  1294,  a  certain  num- 
ber of  Italian  Franciscans,  of  the  Spiritual  party, 
addressed  themselves  to  Celestin  V.  for  a  per- 
mission to  form  a  separate  order,  in  which  they 
might  not  only  profess,  but  also  observe,  in  the 
strictest  manner,  that  austere  rule  of  absolute 
poverty,  which  St.  Francis  had  prescribed  to  his 
followers.  The  good  pontiff,  who,  before  his 
elevation  to  the  head  of  the  church,  had  led  a 
solitary  and  austere  life  ( j),  and  was  fond  of  every 
thing  that  looked  like  mortification  and  self-de- 
nial, granted,  with  the  utmost  facility,  the 
request  of  these  friars,  and  placed  at  the  head  of 
the  new  order,  a  monk,  whose  name  was  Libera- 
tus,  and  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  self-tormen- 

(h)  Id.  Ibid.  torn.  v.  p.  108.  121,  140.  and  more  especially 
p.  235.  236. 

ffg0  (z)  This  pope,  whose  name  was  Peter  Meuron,  had 
retired  very  young  to  a  solitary  mountain,  in  order  to  devote 
himself  entirely  to  prayer  and  mortification.  The  fame  of 
his  piety  brought  many  to  see  him  from  a  principle  of  curio- 
sity, several  of  whom  renounced  the  world,  and  became  the 
companions  of  his  solitude.  With  these  he  formed  a  kind  of 
community,  in  the  year  1254-,  which  was  approved  by  Urban 

IV.  in  1264,  and  erected  into  a  distinct  order,  called  The 
Hermits  of  St.  Damien.     Upon  Meuron's  elevation  to  the 
pontificate,  and  his  assuming  the  name  of  Celestin  V.  his 
order,  which  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  new  Francis- 
can Celestin  Hermits,  took  the  title  of  Celestins. 


220  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  tors  of  all  the  monastic  tribe  (&).  Soon  after 
tn*S)  Celestin,  finding  himself  unfit  for  the  duties 
1  of  his  high  and  important  office,  resigned  the 
pontificate,  in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  Boni- 
face VIII.  who  annulled  every  act  that  had  been 
passed  during  the  short  reign  of  his  predecessor, 
and  suppressed,  among  other  institutions,  the 
new  order,  which  had  assumed  the  title  of  the 
Celestin  Hermits  of  St.  Francis  (/).  This  dis- 
grace was,  as  it  were,  the  signal  which  drew  upon 
them  the  most  furious  attacks  of  their  enemies. 
The  worldly  minded  Franciscans  persecuted  them 
with  the  most  unrelenting  bitterness,  accused 
them  of  various  crimes,  and  even  cast  upon  them 
the  odious  reproach  of  Manicheism.  Hence 
many  of  these  unhappy  fanatics  retired  into 
Achaia,  from  whence  they  passed  into  a  small 
island,  where  they  imagined  themselves  secure 
from  the  rage  of  their  adversaries,  and  at  liberty 
to  indulge  themselves  in  all  the  austerities  of  that 
miserable  life,  which  they  looked  upon  as  the  per- 
fection of  holiness  here  below.  But  no  retreat 
was  sufficient  to  screen  them  from  the  vigilance 
and  fury  of  their  cruel  persecutors,  who  left  no 
means  unemployed  to  perpetuate  their  miseries. 
In  the  mean  time,  that  branch  of  the  Spiritual 
Franciscans  that  remained  in  Italy,  continued  to 
observe  the  rigorous  laws  of  their  primitive  insti- 
tution in  spite  of  Boniface  VIII.  who  used  his 
utmost  efforts  to  conquer  their  obstinacy.  They 
erected  societies  of  their  order  first  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples,  afterwards  in  the  Milanese,  and  in 
the  marquisate  of  Ancona  ;  and,  at  length  spread- 
ing themselves  through  the  greatest  part  of  Eu- 
rope, they  continued  in  the  most  violent  state  of 
war  with  the  church  of  Rome,  until  the  face  of 

(&)  Waddingi  Annales,  torn.  v.  p.  324.  338. 
(/)  Id.  Ibid.  torn.  vi.  p.  1.  Bullarium  Magnum  Contin.  III. 
IV.  p.  108,  109. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  £c. 

things   was    changed    by   the    Reformation.     In    CENT. 

XIII. 
PART  II. 


these  conflicts  they  underwent  trials  and  sufferings 


of  every  kind,  and  multitudes  of  them  perished  in 
the  flames,  as  miserable  victims  to  the  infernal 
fury  of  the  Inquisition  (m). 

(m)  The  writers  that  serve  generally  as  guides  in  this  part 
of  the  history  of  the  church,  and  whom  I  have  been  obliged 
to  consult  upon  the  divisions  of  the  Franciscans,  whose 
history,  as  will  soon  appear,  is  peculiarly  interesting  and  im- 
portant, are  far  from  meriting  the  encomiums  that  are  due  to 
perspicuity  and  exactness.  This  part  of  the  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  what  is  called  the  Middle  Age,  has  not  hitherto 
been  accurately  illustrated  by  any  writer,  though  it  be, 
every  way,  worthy  of  the  labours  of  the  learned,  and  of  the 
attention  of  Christians.  Its  principal  merit  consists  herein, 
that  it  exhibits  striking  examples  of  piety  and  learning  strug- 
gling against  the  power  of  superstition  and  ignorance,  and 
against  that  spiritual  tyranny  of  which  they  were  the  princi- 
pal supports.  Nay,  these  very  rebellious  Franciscans,  though 
fanatical  and  superstitious  in  several  respects,  deserve,  never- 
theless, an  eminent  rank  among  those  who  prepared  the  way 
for  the  reformation  in  Europe,  and  who  excited  in  the  minds 
of  the  people,  a  just  aversion  to  the  church  of  Rome,  Ray- 
naldus,  Bzovius,  Spondanus,  in  their  Annals,  Eymericus,  in 
his  Directorium  Inquisitorum,  and  Natalis  Alexander,  in  his 
Ecclesiastical  History,  relate  the  revolutions  that  happened 
in  the  Franciscan  order,  and  in  the  church  in  general,  during 
this  period :  but  their  accounts  are  neither  so  accurate,  nor  so 
ample,  as  the  importance  of  the  events  deserved.  And  as  it 
is  from  these  authors  that  the  protestant  historians  have 
drawn  their  materials,  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  the  de- 
fects with  which  these  latter  abound.  Wadding,  who 
merits  the  highest  encomiums  as  a  laborious  and  learned 
writer,  is  yet  an  uncertain  guide,  when  he  treats  of  the  mat- 
ters now  under  consideration.  His  attachment  to  one  party, 
and  his  fears  of  the  other,  lay  him  under  restraints,  that  pre- 
vent his  declaring  the  truth  with  a  noble  freedom.  He  shades 
his  picture  with  dexterity.  He  conceals,  dissembles,  excuses, 
acknowledges,  and  denies,  with  such  a  timorous  prudence 
and  caution,  that  the  truth  could  not  but  suffer  considerably 
under  his  pen.  He  appears  to  have  been  attached  to  the 
rigid  Franciscans,  and  yet  had  not  the  courage  to  declare 
openly,  that  they  had  been  injured  by  the  pontiffs.  He  saw, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  tumults  and  perplexities  in  which 
these  rigid  Franciscans  had  involved  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  the  strokes  they  had  levelled,  with  no  small  success,  at 
the  majesty  of  the  pontiffs:  but  he  has  taken  all  imaginable 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XXXIX.  Towards  the  conclusion  of  this  cen- 
^ury  arose  *n   Italy  the  enthusiastic   sect  of  the 
L  Fratricelli  and   Bizochi,  which,  in  Germany  and 


The  Fratri-  France,  received  the  denomination  of  Beguards. 
They  were  condemned  by  Boniface  VIII  (/?), 
and  by  several  of  his  successors  ;  and  the  inquisi- 
tors were  charged  by  these  despotic  pontiffs  to 
persecute  them  until  they  were  entirely  extir- 
pated, which  commission  they  executed  with  their 
usual  barbarity.  The  Fratricelli,  or  Little  Bre- 
thren, were  Franciscan  monks,  who  separated 
themselves  from  the  grand  community  of  St. 
Francis,  with  a  design  to  observe  the  laws  of  their 
parent  and  founder  in  a  more  strict  and  rigorous 
manner  than  they  were  observed  by  the  other 
Franciscans  ;  and  who,  accordingly,  renounced 
every  kind  of  possession  and  property,  both  com- 
mon and  personal,  and  begged  from  door  to  door 

pains  to  throw  such  a  shade  upon  this  part  of  their  conduct, 
as  conceals  its  violence  from  the  view  of  his  readers.  Such 
then  being  the  characters  of  the  writers  who  have  handed 
down  to  us  the  history  of  the  church  in  this  important  pe- 
riod, I  could  follow  none  of  them  as  a  sure  or  constant  guide 
in  all  the  events  they  relate,  the  judgments  they  form,  or  the 
characters  they  describe.  I  have  not,  however,  been  desti- 
tute of  a  clue  to  conduct  me  through  the  various  windings  of 
this  intricate  labyrinth.  The  testimonies  of  ancient  authors, 
with  several  manuscripts  that  have  never  yet  been  published,, 
such  as  the  Diplomas  of  the  Pontiffs  and  Emperors,  the  Acts 
of  the  Inquisition,  and  other  records  of  that  kind,  are  the 
authentic  sources  from  whence  I  have  drawn  my  accounts  of 
many  things  that  have  been  very  imperfectly  represented  by 
other  historians. 

(«)  See  Trithemius,  Annal.  Hirsaug.  torn.  ii.  p.  74.  though 
this  author  is  defective  in  several  respects,  and  more  espe- 
cially in  his  accounts  of  the  origin  and  sentiments  of  the 
Fratricelli.  It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that  he  confounds, 
through  the  whole  of  his  history,  the  sects  and  orders  of  this 
century  one  with  another,  in  the  most  ignorant  and  unskilful 
manner.  See  rather  Du  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn. 
iii.  p.  ,54-1.  where  the  edict  published  in  the  year  1297,  by 
Boniface  VIII.  against  the  Bizochi,  or  Beguards,  is  inserted; 
as  also  Jordani  Chronicon.  in  Muratorii  Antiq.  Italiae.  torn. 
iv.  p.  1020. 


CHAP.  n.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

their  daily  subsistence  (o).      They   alleged  that    CENT. 
neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  had  any  possessions,  , 

*-•  i  •  ill  f  A.  rC  L    Hi 

either  personal  or  in  common ;  and  that  they  were 

the  models,  whom  St.  Francis  commanded  his 
followers  to  imitate.  After  the  example  also  of 
their  austere  founder,  they  went  about  clothed 
with  sordid  garments,  or  rather  with  loathsome 
rags,  declaimed  against  the  corruption  of  the 
church  of  Rome,  and  the  vices  of  the  pontiffs  and 
bishops,  foretold  the  reformation  of  the  church 
and  the  restoration  of  the  true  gospel  of  Christ  by 
the  genuine  followers  of  St.  Francis,  and  declared 
their  assent  to  almost  all  the  doctrines,  which 
were  published  under  the  name  of  the  abbot 
Joachim.  They  esteemed  and  respected  Celestin 
V.  because,  as  has  been  already  observed,  he 
was,  in  some  measure,  the  founder  of  their  society, 
by  permitting  them  to  erect  themselves  into  a 
separate  order.  But  they  refused  to  acknowledge, 
as  true  and  lawful  heads  of  the  church,  his 
successor  Boniface  and  the  other  pontiffs  after 


(o)  The  Fratricelli  resemble  the  Spiritual  in  many  of  their 
maxims  and  observances  :  they,  however,  are  a  distinct  body, 
and  differ  from  them  in  various  respects.  The  Spiritual,  for 
instance,  continued  to  hold  communion  with  the  rest  of  the 
Franciscans,  from  whom  they  differed  in  points  of  consider- 
able moment,  nor  did  they  ever  pretend  to  erect  themselves 
into  a  particular  and  distinct  order ;  the  Fratricelli,  on  the 
contrary,  renounced  all  communion  with  the  Franciscans,  and 
withdrawing  their  obedience  from  the  superiors  of  that  society, 
chose  for  themselves  a  new  chief,  under  whom  they  formed 
a  new  and  separate  order.  The  Spiritual  d/d  not  absolutely 
oppose  their  order's  possessing  certain  goods  jointly  and  in 
common,  provided  they  renounced  all  property  in  these  goods, 
and  confined  their  pretensions  to  the  mere  use  of  them ; 
whereas  the  Fratricelli  rejected  every  kind  of  possession, 
whether  personal  or  in  common,  and  embraced  that  absolute 
poverty  and  want  which  St.  Francis  had  prescribed  in  his 
Rule  and  in  his  last  Testament.  We  omit  the  mention 
of  other  less  important  differences  that  might  be  alleged 
here. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 
CENT,    him,  who  opposed  the  Fratricelli,  and  persecuted 

YTTT  i        •  i  v 

*U1'     their  order 


PA™. 


(p)  The  accounts  of  the  Fratricelli,  that  are  given  by 
ancient  and  modern  writers,  even  by  those  that  pretend  to 
the  greatest  exactness,  are  extremely  confused  and  uncertain. 
Trithemius,  in  his  Annal.  Hirsaug.  torn.  ii.  p.  74.  affirms  that 
they  derived  their  origin  from  Tanchelinus,  and  thus 
ignorantly  confounds  them  with  the  Catharists,  and  other 
sects  that  arose  in  those  times.  The  Franciscans  leave  no 
means  unemployed  to  clear  themselves  from  all  relation  to 
this  society,  and  to  demonstrate  that  such  a  pestilential  and 
impious  sect,  as  that  of  the  Fratricelli,  did  not  derive  their 
origin  from  the  order  of  St.  Francis.  In  consequence  of  this 
they  deny  that  the  Fratricelli  professed  the  Franciscan  rule ; 
and  maintain,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  society  which  was 
distinguished  by  this  title  was  a  heap  of  rabble,  composed  of 
persons  of  all  kinds  and  of  all  religions,  whom  Hermon 
Pongilup,  towards  the  conclusion  of  this  century,  gathered 
together  at  Ferrara  in  Italy,  and  erected  into  a  distinct  order. 
See  Luc.  Wadding,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  279.  This 
author  employs  all  his  eloquence  to  defend  his  order  from 
the  infamous  reproach  of  having  given  rise  to  that  of  the 
Fratricelli ;  but  his  efforts  are  vain,  for  he  acknowledges,  nay, 
even  proves  by  unquestionable  authorities,  that  this  hated  sect 
professed  and  observed,  in  the  most  rigorous  manner,  the  rule 
of  St.  Francis ;  and  nevertheless,  he  denies  that  they  were 
Franciscans ;  by  which  he  means,  and  indeed  can  only  mean 
that  they  were  not  such  Franciscans  as  those  who  lived  in 
subjection  to  the  general  of  the  order,  and  adopted  the  inter- 
pretation which  the  pontiffs  had  given  of  the  rule  of  their 
founder.  All  Wadding's  boasted  demonstration,  therefore, 
comes  to  no  more  than  this,  that  the  Fratricelli  were  Fran- 
ciscans who  separated  themselves  from  the  grand  order  of 
St.  Francis,  and  rejected  the  authority  of  the  general  of 
that  order,  and  the  laws  and  interpretations,  together  with 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs ;  and  this  no  mortal 
ever  took  it  into  his  head  to  deny.  Hermannus,  or,  as  he  is 
called  by  many,  Armannus  Pongilup,  whom  Wadding  and 
others  consider  as  the  Parent  of  the  Fratricelli,  lived  in  this 
century  at  Ferrara,  in  the  highest  reputation,  on  account  of 
his  extraordinary  piety ;  and  when  he  died,  in  the  year  126'P, 
was  interred  with  the  greatest  magnificence  and  pomp  in  the 
principal  church  of  that  city.  His  memory  was,  for  a  long 
time,  honoured  with  a  degree  of  veneration  equal  to  that 
which  is  paid  to  the  most  illustrious  saints,  and  it  was  sup- 
posed that  the  Supreme  Being  bore  testimony  to  his  eminent 
saactity  by  various  miracles.  But  as  Pongilup  had  been 


CHAP.  ir.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  225 

XL.  As  the  Franciscan  order  acknowledged,    CENT. 

»ri. 

PART  II. 


as  its  companions  and  associates,  a  set  of  men,     XIIL 


Tertiaries, 

suspected  of  heresy  by  the  Inquisitors  *,  on  account  of  the  Bocasoti, 
peculiar  austerity  of  his  life,  which  resembled  that  of  the  Ca-  and  Be- 
tharists,  they  made,  even  after  his  death,  such  an  exact  and  gu*ns. 
scrupulous  inquiry  into  his  maxims  and  morals,  that,  many 
years  after  he  was  laid  low  in  the  grave,  his  impiety  was  de- 
tected and  published  to  the  world.  Hence  it  was,  that,  in  the 
year  1300,  his  tomb  was  destroyed,  his  bones  dug  up,  and 
burned  by  the  order  of  Boniface  VIII.  and  the  multitude 
effectually  cured  of  the  enthusiastic  veneration  they  had  for 
his  memory.  The  judicial  acts  of  this  remarkable  event  are 
recorded  by  Muratori,  in  his  Antiquit.  Italic.  Medii  vEvi,  torn, 
v.  p.  93 — 147.  and  it  appears  evidently  from  them,  that  those 
learned  men,  who  consider  Pongilup  as  the  founder  of  the 
order  of  the  Fratricelli,  are  entirely  mistaken.  So  far  was  he 
from  being  the  founder  of  this  sect,  that  he  was  dead  before 
it  was  in  being.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  this  famous 
enthusiast  was  a  Catharist,  infected  with  Paulician  or  Mani- 
chean  principles,  and  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  sect  en- 
titled Bagnolists,  from  a  town  of  that  name  in  Provence, 
where  they  resided.  Some  modern  writers,  indeed,  have 
seen  so  far  into  the  truth,  as  to  perceive  that  the  Fratricelli 
were  a  separate  branch  of  the  rigid  and  austere  Franciscans ; 
but  they  err  in  this,  that  they  consider  them  as  the  same 
sect  with  the  Beguards  or  Beguins,  under  a  different  deno- 
mination. Such  is  the  opinion  adopted  by  Limborch,  in  his 
Hist.  Inquisit.  lib.  i.  cap.  xix.  p.  69.  who  appears  to  have 
been  very  little  acquainted  with  the  matters  now  under  con- 
sideration ;  by  Baluzius,  in  his  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  195.  et 
Vit.  Pontif.  Avenionens.  torn,  i,  p.  509.  by  Beausobre,  in  his 
Dissertation  concerning  the  Adamites,  subjoined  to  the  Hi- 
story of  the  Wars  of  the  Hussites,  p.  380.  and  by  Wadding,  in 
his  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  v.  p.  376.  But  notwithstanding  the 
authorities  of  these  learned  men,  it  is  certain,  as  we  shall 
show  in  its  place,  that  there  was  a  real  difference  between 
the  Fratricelli  and  the  Beguards,  not  indeed  with  respect  to 
their  opinions,  but  in  their  rule  of  discipline  and  their  man- 
ner of  life. 

The  principal  cause  of  the  errors  that  have  obscured  the 
History  of  the  Fratricelli  is  the  ambiguity  that  there  is  in 
the  denomination  of  their  order.  Fratricellus,  Fraterculus, 
or  Little  Brother,  was  an  Italian  nickname,  or  term  of  deri- 
sion, that  was  applied  in  this  century  to  all  those  who,  with- 
out belonging  to  any  of  the  religious  orders,  affected  a 
monkish  air  in  their  clothing,  their  carriage,  and  their  man- 

*  These  formidable  censors  were  entitled,  Inquisitors  of  Heretical  Pravity. 
VOL.    III.  Q 


226  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    who  observed  the  third  rule  that  was  prescribed 

XIII.       "        ~ 
PART  II. 


XIIL     by  St.  Francis,  and  were  from  thence  commonly 


ner  of  living,  and  assumed  a  sanctimonious  aspect  of  piety 
and  devotion.  See  Villani  Istorie  Florentine,  lib.  viii.  c.  84. 
p.  423. — Imola  in  Dantern,  p.  1121.  in  Muratori  Antiq.  Ital. 
torn.  i.  And  as  there  were  many  vagabonds  of  this  kind, 
that  wandered  about  from  place  to  place  during  this  century, 
it  happened  that  this  general  term  of  Fratricelli  was  applied 
to  them  all,  though  they  differed  much  from  one  another  in 
their  opinions  and  in  their  methods  of  living.  Thus  the  Ca- 
tharists,  the  Waldenses,  the  Apostles,  and  many  other  sects 
who  had  invented  new  opinions  in  religion,  were  marked  with 
this  denomination  by  the  multitude :  while  the  writers  of 
foreign  nations,  unacquainted  with  this  ludicrous  application 
of  the  word,  were  puzzled  in  their  inquiries  after  the  sect  of 
the  Fratricelli,  who  had  given  so  much  trouble  to  the  Roman 
pontiffs,  nay,  were  led  into  the  grossest  mistakes,  and  ima- 
gined, at  one  time,  that  this  order  was  that  of  the  Catharists, 
at  another,  that  it  was  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses,  &c.  But, 
in  order  to  have  distinct  ideas  of  this  matter,  it  must  be  con- 
sidered that  the  word  Fraterculus,  or  Little  Brother,  bore  a 
quite  different  sense  from  the  ludicrous  one  now  mentioned, 
when  it  was  applied  to  the  austere  part  of  the  Franciscans, 
who  maintained  the  necessity  of  observing,  in  the  strictest 
manner,  the  rule  of  their  founder.  Instead  of  being  a  nick- 
name, or  a  term  of  derision  when  applied  to  them,  it  was  an 
honourable  denomination,  in  which  they  delighted,  and 
which  they  preferred  infinitely  before  all  other  titles.  Fra- 
tricelli, or  Little  Brothers,  is  a  word  of  the  same  signification 
with  Friars-minors  3  and  every  one  knows,  that  this  latter 
appellation  was  adopted  by  the  Franciscans,  as  an  expression 
of  their  extraordinary  humility  and  modesty.  In  assuming 
this  title,  therefore,  these  monks  did  not,  properly  speaking, 
assume  a  new  name,  but  only  translated  the  ancient  name  of 
their  order  into  the  Italian  language ;  for  what  the  Latins 
called  Fratres  Minores,  i.  e.  Friars-minors,  that  the  Italians 
called  Fratricelli.  Of  the  many  proofs  we  might  draw  from 
the  best  authors  in  favour  of  this  account  of  the  matter,  we 
shall  only  allege  one,  from  the  Life  of  Thorn.  Aquinas,  by 
Guilielmus  de  Thoco  in  Actis  Sanctor.  Martii,  torn.  i.  cap. 
ii.  sect.  xxi.  "  Destruxit  (says  that  biographer)  et  tertium 
pestiferum  pravitatis  errorem  S.  Thomas... cuj us  sectatores 
simul  et  inventores  se  nominant  fraterculos  de  vita  paupere, 
ut  etiam  sub  hoc  humilitatis  sophistico  nomine  simplicium 
corda  seducant.  ..Contra  quern  errorem  pestiferum  Johannes 
Papa  XXII.  mirandam  edidit  Decretalem." 

Now  this  very  Decretal  of  John  XXII..  against  the  Fra- 
tricelli, which   Thoco  calls  Admirable,    is,  to  mention  no 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  227 

called  Tertiaries  (<?) ;  so  likewise  the  order  of  the    CENT. 
Fratricelli,  who  were  desirous  of  being  considered 

other  testimonies,  a  sufficient  and  satisfactory  proof  of  what" 
I  have  affirmed  in  relation  to  that  sect.  In  this  Decretal, 
which  is  to  be  seen  in  the  Extravagantia  Joh.  XXII.  Corporis 
Juris  Canon,  torn.  ii.  p.  1112.  edit.  Boehmerianae,  the  pontiff 
expresses  himself  thus :  "  Nonnulli  profanae  multitudinis 
viri,  qui  vulgariter  Fratricelli  sen  Fratres  de  paupere  vita, 
Bizochi,  sive  Beguini,  nuncupantur  in  partibus  Italiae,  in  in- 
sula  Siciliae publice  mendicare  solent."  The  pontiff  af- 
terwards divides  the  Fratricelli  into  monks  and  Tertiaries, 
or  (which  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  as  we  shall  show  in 
its  place)  into  Fratricelli  and  Beguins.  With  respect  to  the 
Fratricelli,  properly  so  called,  he  expresses  himself  thus : 

Plurimi  regulam  seu  ordinem  Fratrum  Minorum Se  pro- 

fiteri  ad  litteram  conservare  confingunt,  prsetendentes  se  a 
sanctae  memoriae  Coelestino  Papa  Quinto,  praedecessore 
nostro,  hujus  status  suae  vitae  privilegium  habuisse.  Quod 
tamen,  etsi  ostenderent,  non  valeret,  cum  Bonifacius  Papa 
Octavus  ex  certis  causis  rationabilibus  omnia  ab  ipso  Cceles- 

tino  concessa viribus  penitus  evacuaverit."     Here  the 

pontiff  describes  clearly  those  Fratricelli,  who,  separating 
themselves  from  the  Franciscans  with  a  view  to  observe 
more  strictly  the  rule  of  St.  Francis,  were  erected  into  a 
distinct  order  by  pope  Celestine  V.  And  in  the  following 
passage  he  characterises,  with  the  same  perspicuity,  the  Bi- 
zochi or  Beguins,  who  intitled  themselves  of  The  Third 
Order  of  the  Penitents  of  St.  Francis :  "  Nonnulli  ex  ipsis  as- 
serentes  se  esse  de  tertio  ordine  beati  Francisci  paenitentium 
vocato,  prasdictum.  statum  et  ritum  eorum  sub  velamine  talis 
nominis  satagunt  palliare." 

(q)  Besides  two  very  austere  rules  drawn  up  by  St.  Fran- 
cis, the  one  for  the  Friars-minors,  and  the  other  for  the  Poor 
Sisters,  called  Clarisses,  from  St.  Clara  their  founder  ;  this 
famous  chief  drew  up  a  third,  whose  demands  were  less  ri- 
gorous, for  such  as,  without  abandoning  their  worldly  affairs, 
or  resigning  their  possessions,  were,  nevertheless,  disposed  to 
enter,  with  certain  restrictions,  into  the  Franciscan  order, 
and  desirous  of  enjoying  the  privileges  that  were  annexed 
to  it.  This  rule  prescribed  fasting,  continence,  hours  of 
devotion  and  prayer,  mean  and  dirty  apparel,  gravity  of 
manners,  and  things  of  that  nature ;  but  neither  prohibited 
contracting  marriage,  accumulating  wealth,  filling  civil  em- 
ployments, nor  attending  to  worldly  affairs.  All  the  Fran- 
ciscan historians  have  given  accounts  of  this  third  rule, 
more  especially  Wadding.  Annal.Min.tom.  ii.  p.  7. — Helyot, 
Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  vii.  p.  214.  They,  that  professed  this 
third  rule,  were  called  Friars  of  the  penance  of  Christ,  and 
sometimes,  also,  on  account  of  the  meanness  of  their  gar- 
ments, Brethren  of  the  Sack,  but  they  were  more  generally 


228 

CENT. 

XIII. 

PART  II. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

as  the  only  genuine  followers  of  St.  Francis,  had  a 
great  number  of  Tertiaries,  attached  to  their  cause. 
These  Tertiaries,  or  half-monks,  were  called,  in 
Italy,  Bizochi  and  Bocasoti  ;  in  France,  Begu- 
ines ;  and  in  Germany,  Beguards,  or  Beghards, 
which  last  was  the  denomination  by  which  they 
were  commonly  known  in  almost  all  places  (r). 

known  by  the  denomination  of  Tertiaries.  The  greatest 
part  of  the  religious  orders  of  the  church  of  Rome  imitated 
this  institution  of  St.  Francis,  as  soon  as  they  perceived  the 
various  advantages  that  were  deducible  from  it.  And  hence, 
at  this  day,  these  orders  continue  to  have  their  Tertiaries. 

(r)  The  Tertiaries  that  were  connected  with  the  order  of 
the  Fratricelli  arose  about  the  year  1 296,  in  the  marquisate 
of  Ancona  and  the  neighbouring  countries,  and  were  called 
Bizochi,  as  we  learn  from  the  edict  issued  out  against  them, 
in  the  year  1297,  by  Boniface  VIII.  and  published  by  Du 
Boulay,  in  his  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  54-1.  They 
are  mentioned  under  the  same  title  by  John  XXII.  in  the 
bull  already  cited.  Add  to  all  these  authorities,  that  of  the 
learned  Du  Fresne,  who,  in  his  Glossar.  Latinit.  mediae,  torn, 
i.  p.  1188,  observes,  that  this  denomination  is  derived  from 
Bizochus,  which  signifies  in  French  une  bcsace,  i.  e.  a  sack 
or  wallet,  such  as  beggars  in  general,  and  these  holy  beggars 
in  particular ,  were  used  to  carry  about  with  them.  The 
term  Bocasotus,  or  Vocasotus,  as  Du  Boulay  writes  it  (in 
his  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  510.),  has  no  doubt  the 
same  origin,  and  bears  the  same  signification.  It  is  used  by 
Jordan,  in  his  Chronicle,  from  whence  we  shall  cite  a  re- 
markable passage  in  the  following  note.  The  denominations 
of  Beghards  and  Beguins,  that  were  given  to  the  Tertiaries 
in  France  and  in  Italy,  are  very  frequently  to  be  met  with  in 
the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Middle  Age.  The  accounts, 
however,  which  both  ancient  and  modern  writers  generally 
give  of  these  famous  names,  are  so  uncertain,  and  so  differ- 
ent from  each  other,  that  we  need  not  be  surprised  to  find 
the  history  of  the  Beghards  and  Beguins  involved  in  greater 
perplexity  and  darkness,  than  any  other  part  of  the  Eccle- 
siastical Annals  of  the  Age  now  mentioned.  It  is  therefore 
my  present  design  to  remove  this  perplexity,  and  to  dispel 
this  darkness,  as  far  as  that  can  be  done  in  the  short  space 
to  which  I  am  confined,  and  to  disclose  the  true  origin  of 
these  famous  denominations. 

The  words  Beghard  or  Beggehard,  Begutta,  Beghinus, 
and  Beghina,  which  only  differ  in  their  termination,  have  all 
one  and  the  same  sense.  The  German  and  Belgic  nations 
wrote  Beghard  and  Begutte,  which  terminations  are  ex- 
tremely common  in  the  language  of  the  ancient  Germans.  But 
the  French  substituted  the  Latin  termination  in  place  of  the 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  229 

They  differed   from   the   Fratricelli  not  in  their    CENT. 
opinions  and  doctrine,  but  only  in  their  manner  pA*rTnn 

German,  and  changed  Beghard  into  Beghinus  and  Beghina ' 

so  that  those  who  in  Holland  and  Germany  were  called 
Beghard  and  Begutte,  were  denominated  in  France,  Beghini 
and  Beghinae.  Nay,  even  in  Germany  and  Holland,  the 
Latin  termination  was  gradually  introduced  instead  of  the 
German,  particularly  in  the  feminine  term  Begutta,  of  which 
change  we  might  allege  several  probable  reasons,  were  this  the 
proper  place  for  disquisitions  of  that  nature.  There  are  many 
different  opinions  concerning  the  origin  and  signification  of 
these  terms,  which  it  would  be  too  tedious  to  mention,  and  still 
more  so  to  refute.  Besides,  I  have  done  this  in  a  large  work 
now  almost  finished,  concerning  the  Beghards  and  Beghina, 
wherein  I  have  traced  out  with  the  utmost  pains  rmd  labour, 
in  records,  the  greatest  part  of  which  have  never  seen  the  light, 
the  history  of  all  the  different  sects  to  whom  these  names  have 
been  given,  and  have,  at  the  same  time,  detected  the  errors 
into  which  many  learned  men  have  fallen,  in  treating  this  part 
of  the  history  of  the  church*.  At  present,  therefore,  setting 
aside  many  opinions  and  conjectures,  I  shall  confine  myself  to 
a  brief  inquiry  into  the  true  origin  and  signification  of  these 
words.  They  are  undoubtedly  derived  from  the  old  German 
word  beggen,  beggeren,  which  signifies  to  seek  any  thing  with 
importunity,  zeal,  and  earnestness.  In  joining  to  this  word 
the  syllable  hard,  which  is  the  termination  of  many  German 
words,  we  have  the  term  Beggehard,  which  is  applicable  to 
a  person  who  asks  any  thing  with  ardour  and  importunity. 
And  as  none  are  so  remarkable  for  asking  in  this  manner  as 
common  beggars,  who  subsist  upon  the  liberality  of  the  public, 
therefore,  in  the  ancient  German  language,  they  were  called 
Beghard,  from  which  the  English  word  beggar  is  manifestly 
derived.  Begutta  signifies  a  female  beggar. —  When  Christi- 
anity was  introduced  into  Germany,  the  word  beggen,  or 
beggeren,  was  used  in  a  religious  sense,  and  expressed  the 
act  of  devout  and  fervent  prayer  to  the  Supreme  Being. 
Accordingly,  we  find  in  the  Gothic  translation  of  the  Four 
Gospels  attributed  to  Ulphilas,  the  word  beggen,  employed 
to  express  the  duty  of  earnest  and  fervent  prayer.  Hence, 
when  any  person  distinguished  himself  from  others  by  the 
frequency  and  fervour  of  his  devotional  services,  he  was  called 
a  Beghard,  i.  e.  a  devout  man  ;  and  the  denomination  of  Be- 
gutta was  given,  in  the  same  sense,  to  women  of  uncommon 
piety.  And  as  they  who  distinguished  themselves  from  others 
by  the  frequency  of  their  prayers,  assumed  by  that  means  a 
more  striking  air  of  external  devotion  than  the  rest  of  their 
03"  *  The  work  here  hinted  at  has  not  as  yet  appeared  ;  though  we  hope 
that  those  who  arc  entrusted  with  the  papers  of  the  learned  author  will 
prevent  such  a  valuable  production  being  4ost  to  the  republic  of  letters. 


230  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    of  living.     The  Fratricelli  were  real  monks,  sub- 
PAK-TH 


Jecte^   to   tne   ru^e  °f  St.    Francis  ;     while   the 


fellow  Christians ;  hence  it  came  to  pass  that  all  those  who 
were  ambitious  of  appearing  more  religious  and  devout  than 
their  neighbours,  were  called  Beghardi,  or  Beguttse. 

The  observations  we  have  hitherto  made  with  respect  to 
the  origin  and  signification  of  the  words  in  question  will  serve 
as  a  clue  to  deliver  the  attentive  reader  from  that  labyrinth  of 
difficulties  in  which  the  history  of  the  Beghards  and  Beghinae 
has  been  involved.  They  will  also  enable  him  to  account  for 
the  prodigious  multitudes  of  Beghards  and  Beguines  that 
sprung  up  in  Europe  in  the  thirteenth  century;  and  will  show 
him  how  it  happened,  that  these  denominations  were  given  to 
above  thirty  sects  or  orders,  which  differed  widely  from  each 
other  in  their  opinions,  their  discipline,  and  manner  of  living. 
The  first  and  original  signification  of  the  word  Beghard  (or 
Beggert,  as  it  was  pronounced  by  the  common  people)  was 
importunate  beggar.  Therefore,  when  the  people  saw  certain 
persons,  not  only  embracing  with  resignation,  but  also  with 
the  most  voluntary  choice,  and  under  a  pretext  of  devotion, 
the  horrors  of  absolute  poverty,  begging  their  daily  bread 
from  door  to  door,  and  renouncing  all  their  worldly  posses- 
sions and  occupations,  they  called  all  such  persons  Beghards, 
or,  if  they  were  women,  Beghurts,  without  ever  once  consi- 
dering the  variety  of  opinions  and  maxims  by  which  they 
were  distinguished.  The  sect  called  Apostles,  the  rigid 
Franciscans,  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit  (of  whom  here- 
after), all  embraced  this  sordid  state  of  beggary;  and  though 
among  these  orders  there  was  not  only  the  widest  difference, 
but  even  the  greatest  opposition,  the  Germans  called  them 
indiscriminately  Beghards,  from  the  miserable  state  which 
they  had  all  embraced.  Nor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at ;  the 
character  which  they  possessed  in  common  was  striking, 
while  the  sentiments  and  maxims  that  divided  them  escaped 
the  observation  of  the  multitude. 

But  the  word  Beghard  acquired  a  second,  and  a  new 
signification  in  this  century,  being  employed,  as  we  have 
already  observed,  to  signify  a  person  who  prayed  with 
uncommon  frequency,  and  who  distinguished  himself  from 
those  about  him  by  an  extraordinary  appearance  of  piety. 
The  force  of  this  term,  in  its  new  signification,  is  the  same 
with  that  of  the  word  Methodist,  which  is  at  present  the 
denomination  of  a  certain  sect  of  fanatics  in  these  kingdoms. 
Such,  therefore,  as  departed  from  the  manner  of  living  that 
was  usual  among  their  fellow-citizens,  and  distinguished 
themselves  by  the  gravity  of  their  aspect,  and  the  austerity 
of  their  manners,  were  comprehended  under  the  general 
denomination  of  Beghards  and  Beguttes  in  Germany,  and 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

Bizochi,   or  Beguins,   if  we  except  their  sordid 

habit,  and  certain  observances  and  maxims,  which  PART  llt 

they  followed  in  consequence  of  the  injunctions  of — 

the  famous  saint  now  mentioned,  lived  after  the 
manner  of  other  men,  and  were  therefore  consi- 

of  Beguins  and  Beguines  in  France.  The  use  of  these  terms 
was,  at  first,  so  extensive,  that,  as  we  could  show  by  many 
examples,  they  were  applied  even  to  the  monks  themselves  ; 
but  in  process  of  time,  they  were  applied  with  less  extent, 
and  were  confined  to  those  who  formed  a  sort  of  an  interme- 
diate order  between  the  monks  and  citizens,  and  who  resembled 
the  former  in  their  manner  of  living,  without  assuming  their 
name,  or  contracting  their  obligations.  The  Tertiaries, 
therefore,  or  half-monks  of  the  Dominican,  Franciscan,  and, 
in  general,  of  all  the  religious  orders,  were  called  Beg- 
hards ;  for  though,  as  lay- citizens,  they  belonged  to  the  body 
politic,  yet  they  distinguished  themselves  by  their  monkish 
dispositions,  and  their  profession  of  extraordinary  piety  and 
sanctity  of  manners.  The  Fraternity  of  Weavers,  the  Brethren 
of  St.  Alexius,  the  followers  of  Gerhard  the  Great,  in  a  word, 
all  who  pretended  to  an  uncommon  degree  of  sanctity  and 
devotion,  were  called  Beghards,  although  they  procured 
themselves  the  necessaries  of  life  by  honest  industry,  vith- 
out  having  recourse  to  the  sordid  trade  of  begging. 

The  denominations,  therefore,  of  Beghards,  Beguttes,  Be- 
guins, and  Beguines,  are  rather  honourable  than  otherwise, 
when  we  consider  their  origin  j  and  they  are  mentioned  as 
such,  in  several  records  and  deeds  of  this  century,  whose 
authority  is  most  respectable,  particularly  in  the  Testament 
of  St.  Lewis,  king  of  France.  But,  in  process  of  time,  these 
terms  lost  gradually,  as  the  case  often  happens,  their  pr  imitive 
signification,  and  became  marks  of  infamy  and  derision.  For, 
among  these  religious  beggars  and  these  sanctimonious  pre- 
tenders to  extraordinary  piety,  there  were  many  whose  piety 
was  nothing  more  than  the  most  senseless  superstition  ;  many, 
also,  whose  austere  devotion  was  accompanied  with  the  opi- 
nions of  a  corrupt  nature,  and  entirely  opposite  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  church,  and  (what  was  still  more  horrible)  many  artful 
hypocrites,  who,  under  the  mask  of  religion,  concealed  the 
most  abominable  principles,  and  committed  the  most  enor- 
mous crimes.  These  were  the  fools  and  knaves  who  brought 
the  denomination  of  Beghards  into  disrepute,  and  rendered 
it  both  ridiculous  and  infamous ;  so  that  it  was  only  employed 
to  signify  idiots,  heretics,  or  hypocrites.  The  denomination 
of  Lolhards,  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  more 
amply  hereafter,  met  with  the  same  fate,  and  was  rendered 
contemptible  by  the  persons  who  masked  their  iniquity  under 
that  specious  title. 


CENT. 
XIII. 

PART  II. 


A  great 
difference 
between 
the  Fran- 
ciscan Be- 
guins  and 
those  of 
Germany 
and  the 
Nether- 
lands. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

dered  in  no  other  light,  than  as  seculars  and  lay- 
men (Y).  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed,  that  the 
Bizochi  were  divided  into  two  classes,  which  derive 
their  different  denominations  of  perfect  and  imper- 
fect, from  the  different  degrees  of  austerity  that 
they  discovered  in  their  manner  of  living.  The 
perfect  lived  upon  alms,  abstained  from  wedlock, 
and  had  no  fixed  habitations.  The  imperfect,  on 
the  contrary,  had  their  houses,  wives,  and  posses- 
sions, and  were  engaged,  like  the  rest  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  in  the  various  affairs  of  life  (f). 

XLI.  We  must  not  confound  these  Beguins  and 
Beguines,  who  derived  their  origin  from  an  austere 


(*)  Seethe  Actalnquis.  Theolos.  published  by  Limborch, 
p.  298.  302.  310.  313,  and  particularly  307.  329.  382.  389, 
&c.  Among  the  various  passages  of  ancient  writers,  which 
tend  to  illustrate  the  history  of  the  Fratricelli  and  Beguins, 
I  shall  quote  only  one,  which  is  to  be  found  in  Jordan's  Chro- 
nicon,  published  by  Muratori,  in  his  Antiq.  Ital.  medii  aevi, 
torn.  iv.  p.  1020.  and  confirms  almost  every  thing  we  have  said 
upon  that  head :  Anno  1294,  "  Petrus  de  Macerata  et  Petrus 
de  Forosemproneo  Apostatse  fuerunt  ordinis  Minorum  ethae- 
retici.  His  petentibus  eremitice  vivere,  ut  regulam  B.  Fran- 
cisci  ad  litteram  servare  possent.  Quibus  plures  Apostatae 
adhaeserunt,  qui  statum  communitatis  damnabant  et  decla- 
rationes  Regulae,  et  vocabant  se  Fratres  S.  Francisci  (he  ought 
to  have  said  Fratricellos)  Seculares  ;  (i.  e.the  Tertiaries,  who 
were  the  friends  and  associates  of  the  Fratricelli,  without 
quitting,  however,  their  secular  state,  or  entering  into  the 
monastic  order,)  Saeculares  autem  vocaruntBizocios  aut  Fra- 
tricellos  vel  Bocasotos,"  (here  Jordan  is  mistaken)  in  affirm- 
ing, that  the  Saeculares  were  called  Fratricelli;  for  this  latter 
name  belonged  only  to  the  true  monks  of  St.  Francis,  and 
not  to  theTertiaries.  The  other  circumstances  of  this  account 
are  exact,  and  show  that  the  more  austere  professors  of  the 
Franciscan  rule  were  divided  into  two  classes,  viz.  into  friars 
and  seculars,  and  that  the  latter  were  called  Bizochi.  <c  li 
tlogmatizabant,  quod  nullus  summus  Pontifex  Reguiam  B. 
Francisci  declarare  potuit.  Item,  quod  Angelus  abstulit  a 
Nicolao  tertio  Papatus  auctoritatem .  . .  Et  quod  ipsi  soli  sunt 
in  via  Dei  et  vera  ecclesia,*'  &c. 

(t)  This  division  is  mentioned,  or  supposed,  by  several 
authors,  and  more  especially  in  the  Acta  Inquisit.  Tholosanae, 
p.  303.  310.312,  313.  319,  &c. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

branch  of  the  Franciscan  order,  with  the  German  CENT. 
and  Belgic  Beguines,  who  crept  out  of  their  ob- 
scurity  in  this  century,  and  multiplied  prodi- 
giously  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  (u).  Their 
origin  was  of  earlier  date  than  this  century,  but 
it  was  only  now  that  they  acquired  a  name,  and 
made  a  noise  in  the  world.  Their  primitive  esta- 
blishment was,  undoubtedly,  the  effect  of  vir- 
tuous dispositions  and  upright  intentions.  A  cer- 
tain number  of  pious  women,  both  virgins  and 
widows,  in  order  to  maintain  their  integrity  and 
preserve  their  principles  from  the  contagion  of  a 
vicious  and  corrupt  age,  formed  themselves  into 
societies,  each  of  which  had  a  fixed  place  of  resi- 
dence, and  was  under  the  inspection  and  govern- 
ment of  a  female  head.  Here  they  divided  their 
time  between  exercises  of  devotion,  and  works  of 

(M)  In  the  last  century,  there  was  a  great  debate  carried  on 
in  the  Netherlands,  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Beghards  and 
Beguines,  of  which  I  have  given  an  ample  account  in  a  work 
not  yet  published.  In  the  course  of  this  controversy,  the 
Beguines  produced  the  most  authentic  and  unexceptionable 
records  and  diplomas,  from  which  it  appeared,  that,  so  early 
as  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  there  had  been  several 
societies  of  Beguines  established  in  Holland  and  Flanders. 
It  is  true,  they  had  no  more  than  three  of  these  authentic 
acts  to  offer  as  a  proof  of  their  antiquity ;  the  first  was  drawn 
up  in  the  year  1085,  the  second  in  the  year  1129,  the  third 
in  1151  ;  and  they  were  all  three  drawn  up,  at  Vilvorden,  by 
the  Beguines,  who,  at  that  time,  were  settled  there.  See  Aub. 
Miraei  OperaDiplomatico-historica,tom.  ii.  c.  xxvi.  p.  94-8.  and 
torn.  iii.  p.  628.  edit.  nov. — Erycius  Puteanus,  De  Beghina- 
rum  apud  Belgas  institute  et  nomine  suffragio.  This  treatise 
of  Puteanus  is  to  be  found  with  another  of  the  same  author, 
and  upon  the  same  subject,  in  a  work  entitled  Joseph!  Gel- 
dolphia  Ryckel  Vita  S.  Veggae  cum  Adnotationibus,  p.  65— 
227.  Duaci,  1 631,  in  4to.  Now,  though  we  grant  that  those 
writers  are  mistaken,  who  place  the  first  rise  of  the  Beguines 
in  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  century,  yet  the  small  number  of 
authentic  records  which  they  have  to  produce,  in  favour  of 
their  antiquity,  is  an  incontestable  proof  of  the  obscurity  in 
which  they  lay  concealed  before  the  time  in  which  these 
writers  place  their  origin,  and  may  render  it  almost  pro- 
bable, that  the  only  convent  of  Beguines,  that  existed  before 
the  thirteenth  century,  was  that  of  Vilvorden  in  Brabant. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    honest  industry,   reserving  to  themselves  the   li- 
XIIL     berty  of  entering  into  the  state  of  matrimony,  as 

PART  II.       ,        J       r  .      .     5  ,  *l 

also    of    quitting    the    convent,    whenever   they 

thought  proper.  And  as  all  those  among  the 
female  sex,  who  made  extraordinary  professions 
of  piety  and  devotion,  were  distinguished  by  the 
title  of  Beguines,  i.  e.  persons  who  were  uncom- 
monly assiduous  in  prayer,  that  title  was  given 
to  the  women  of  whom  we  are  now  speaking  (w). 
The  first  society  of  this  kind  that  we  read  of,  was 
formed  at  Nivelle  in  Brabant,  in  the  year  I226(^r) ; 
and  was  followed  by  so  many  institutions  of 
a  like  nature  in  France,  Germany,  Holland, 
and  Flanders,  that,  towards  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  there  was  scarcely  a  city  of  any 
note,  that  had  not  its  beguinage,  or  vineyard,  as 
it  was  sometimes  called,  in  conformity  to  the  style 
of  the  Song  of  Songs  (z/).  All  these  female  societies 

(a?)  All  the  Beghards  and  Beguines  that  yet  remain  in 
Flanders  and  Holland,  where  their  convents  have  almost  en- 
tirely changed  their  ancient  and  primitive  form,  affirm  unani- 
mously that  both  their  name  and  institution  derive  their  origin 
from  St.  Begghe,  duchess  of  Brabant,  and  daughter  of  Pepin, 
mayor  of  the  palace  to  the  king  of  Austrasia,  who  lived  in  the 
seventh  century.  This  lady,  therefore,  they  consider  as  their 
patroness,  and  honour  her  as  a  kind  of  tutelary  divinity  with 
the  deepest  sentiments  of  veneration  and  respect.  See  Jos. 
Geld,  a  Ryckel,  in  vita  S.  Begga?  cum  Adnotat.  Duaci  et  Lo- 
vanii  edita;  a  work  of  great  bulk  and  little  merit,  and  full  of 
the  most  silly  and  insipid  fables.  Those  who  are  no  well 
wishers  to  the  cause  of  the  Beguines  adopt  a  quite  different 
account  of  their  origin,  which  they  deduce  from  Lambert  le 
Begue,  a  priest  and  native  of  Liege,  who  lived  in  the  twelfth 
century,  and  was  much  esteemed  on  account  of  his  eminent 
piety.  The  learned  Peter  Coens,  canon  of  Antwerp,  has  de- 
fended this  opinion  with  more  erudition  than  any  other  writer, 
in  his  Disquisitio  Historica  de  Origine  Beghinarum  et  Beghi- 
nagiorum  in  Belgio,  Leod.  1672,  in  12mo. 

ggp  (x)  Other  historians  say,  in  the  year  1207. 

(y)  See  Matth.  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  ad  an.  1243  and 
1250,  p.  540.  696. — Thomas  Can tipratensis  in  Bono  Universal! 
de  Apibus,  lib.  ii.  cap.  li.  p.  478.  edit.  Colvenerii. — Petrus  de 
Herenthal ,,  in  his  Annals,  from  which,  though  they  are  not  yet 
published,  we  have  a  very  remarkable  passage  cited  by  Jos. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  235 

were  not  governed  by  the  same  laws ;  but  in  the    CENT. 
greatest  part  of  them,  the  hours  that  were  not  de-     xin* 

voted  to  prayer,  meditation,  or  other  religious  ex- 1 

ercises,  were  employed  in  weaving,  embroidering, 
and  other  manual  labours  of  various  kinds.  The 
poor,  sick,  and  disabled  Beguines  were  supported 
by  the  pious  liberality  of  such  opulent  persons  as 
were  friends  to  the  order. 

XLIL  This  female  institution  was  soon  imita-  peghards, 
ted  in  Flanders  by  the  other  sex  ;  and  consider-  or  Lollards- 
able  numbers  of  unmarried  men,  both  bachelors 
and  widowers,  formed  themselves  into  communi- 
ties of  the  same  kind  with  those  of  the  Beguines, 
under  the  inspection  and  government  of  a  cer- 
tain chief,  and  with  the  same  religious  views 
and  purposes  ;  still,  however,  reserving  to  them- 
selves the  liberty  of  returning  to  their  former  me- 
thod of  life  (2).  These  pious  persons  were,  in  the 
style  of  this  age,  called  Beghards,  and  by  a  cor- 
ruption of  that  term  usual  among  the  Flemish  and 
Dutch,  Bogards ;  from  others  they  received  the 
denomination  of  Lollards  ;  in  France  they  were 
distinguished  at  first  by  that  of  Bons  Valets,  or 
Bons  Galons,  and  afterwards  by  that  of  Begums  : 
they  were  also  called  the  Fraternity  of  Weavers, 
from  the  trade  which  the  greatest  part  of  them  ex- 
ercised. The  first  society  of  the  Beghards  seems 
to  have  been  that  which  was  established  at  Ant- 
werp in  the  year  1228,  and  continues  still  in  a 
flourishing  state ;  though  the  brethren  of  whom 
it  is  composed  have  long  since  departed  from  their 

Geld,  a  Ryckel,  in  his  Observationes  ad  Vitam  S.  Beggae,  sect, 
cxcvi.  p.  355.  The  origin  and  charters  of  the  convents  of 
Beguines,  that  were  founded  during  this  and  the  following  cen- 
tury in  Holland  and  Flanders,  are  treated  in  an  ample  manner 
by  Aub.  Miraeus,  in  his  Opera  Historico-diplomatica,  John 
Bapt.  Grammaye,  in  his  AntiquitatesBelgicae,  Anton  Sanders, 
in  his  Brabantia  et  Flandria  illustrata,  and  by  the  other 
writers  of  Belgic  history. 

(z)  Matth.  Paris,  Hist.  Major,  ad  an.  1253,  p.  539,  540. 


236 

CENT. 

XIII. 

PART  II 


Greek  wri- 
ters. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

primitive  rule  of  discipline  and  manners.     This 
first  establishment  of  the  Beghards  was  followed 
.  by  many  more  in  Germany,  France,  Holland,  and 
Flanders ;    though,  after   all  their  success,  their 
congregations  were  less  numerous  than  those  of 
the  Beguines  (#).     It  is  worthy  of  observation, 
that  the  Roman  pontiffs  never  honoured  the  socie- 
ties of  the  Beghards  and  Beguines  with  their  so- 
lemn  or  explicit  approbation,  nor  confirmed  their 
establishments   by  the   seal    of    their    authority. 
They  however  granted  them  a  full  toleration,  and 
even  defended  them  often  against  the  stratagems 
and  violence  of  their  enemies,  who  were  many  in 
number.     This  appears  by  the  edicts  in  favour  of 
the  Beghards,  which  the  pontiffs  granted  in  com- 
pliance with  the   earnest    solicitations    of    many 
illustrious  personages,  who  wished  well  to  that  so- 
ciety.    It  did  not,  however,  continue  always  in  a 
flourishing  state.     The  greatest  part  of  the  con- 
vents, both  of  the  Beghards  and  Beguines,  are  now 
either  demolished  or  converted  to  other  uses.     In 
Flanders,   indeed,   a  considerable  number  of  the 
latter  still  subsist,  but  few  of  the  former  are  to  be 
found  any  where. 

XLIII.  After  the  accounts  hitherto  given  of 
the  rulers  of  the  church,  and  of  the  monastic  and 
other  religious  orders  that  were  instituted  or  be- 
came famous  during  this  century,  it  will  not  be 
improper  to  conclude  this  chapter,  by  mentioning 


(a)  See  Ryckelii  Vita  S.  Beggse,  p.  635. — Ant.  Sanderii 
Flandria  Illustrata,  lib.  c.  xvi.  p.  136. — Jo.  Bapt.  Gramayei 
Antiquit.  Fland.  et  in  Gandavo.  p.  22. — Aub.  Miraei  Opera 
Diplom.  Hist.  torn.  iii.  c.  clxviii.  p.  145. — Helyot,  Hist,  des 
Ordres,  torn,  vii.p.  248,  who  is,  nevertheless.,  chargeable  with 
many  errors. — "  Gerhardus  Antoninus,  Pater  Minister"  (so 
the  head  of  the  order  is  called  in  our  times)  "  Beghardorum 
Antwerpiensium  in  Epistola  ad  Ryckium  de  Beghardorum 
origine  et  fatis,"  in  Ryckelii  Vita  S.  Beggae,  p.  489.  This 
author,  indeed,  from  a  spirit  of  partiality  to  his  order,  con- 
ceals the  truth  designedly  in  various  places. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  237 

briefly  the  Greek  and  Latin  writers,  who,  during    CENT. 
the  same  period,  acquired  a  name  by  their  learned 
productions.    The  most  eminent  among  the  Greeks 
were, 

Nicetas  Acominatus,  who  composed  a  work 
entitled,  The  History  and  Treasure  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Faith  ; 

Germanus,  the  Grecian  patriarch,  of  whom  we 
have  yet  extant,  among  other  productions  of  less 
note,  A  Book  against  the  Latins,  and  an  Exposi- 
tion of  the  Greek  Liturgy  ; 

Theodorus  Lascaris,  who  left  behind  him  se- 
veral treatises  upon  various  subjects  of  a  religious 
nature,  and  who  also  entered  the  lists  against  the 
Latins,  which  was  the  reigning  passion  among 
such  of  the  Greeks  as  were  endowed  with  any 
tolerable  parts,  and  were  desirous  of  showing  their 
zeal  for  the  honour  of  their  nation ; 

Nicephorus  Blemmida,  who  employed  his  ta- 
lents in  the  salutary  work  of  healing  the  divisions 
between  the  Greeks  and  Latins  ; 

Arsenius,  whose  Synopsis  of  the  Canon  Law  of 
the  Greeks,  is  far  from  being  contemptible  ; 

Georgius  Acropolita,  who  acquired  a  high 
degree  of  renown,  not  only  by  his  historical 
writings,  but  also  by  the  transactions  and  negotia- 
tions in  which  he  was  employed  by  the  emperor 
Michael ; 

Johannes  Beccus  or  Veccus,  who  involved  him- 
self in  much  trouble,  and  made  himself  many  ene- 
mies, by  defending  the  cause  of  the  Latins  against 
his  own  nation  with  too  much  zeal  ; 

George  Metochita,  and  Constantine  Meliteniota, 
who  employed,  without  success,  their  most  earnest 
efforts  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  the 
Greeks  and  Latins ; 

George  Pachymeres,  who  acquired  a  name  by 
his  commentary  upon  Dionysius,  the  pretended 


ters 


288  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    chief  of  the  mystics,  and  by  a  history  which  he 

comPosed  °f  ms  own  tmie  9  and> 

George  the  Cyprian,  whose  hatred  of  the  La- 
tins, and  warm  opposition  to  Veccus  abovemen- 
tioned,  rendered  him  more  famous  than  all  his 
other  productions  (&). 

Latin  wri-  XLIV.  The  prodigious  number  of  Latin  writers 
that  appeared  in  this  century  renders  it  im- 
possible for  us  to  mention  them  all  ;  we  shall 
therefore  confine  our  account  to  those  among 
them,  who  were  the  most  eminent,  and  whose 
theological  writings  demand  most  frequently 
our  notice  in  the  course  of  this  history.  Such 
are, 

Joachim,  abbot  of  Flora  in  Calabria,  who, 
though  esteemed  on  account  of  his  piety  and 
knowledge,  was,  nevertheless,  a  man  of  mean 
parts  and  of  a  weak  judgment,  full  of  enthusiastic 
and  visionary  notions,  and  therefore  considered, 
during  his  life  and  after  his  death,  by  the  miserable 
and  blinded  multitude,  as  a  prophet  sent  from 
above.  The  pretended  prophecies  of  this  silly 
fanatic  are  abundantly  known,  and  have  been  fre- 
quently published  (c) ; 

Stephen  Langton,  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
who  wrote  commentaries  upon  the  greatest  part  of 
the  books  of  scripture  (c/)  ; 

Francis,  the  founder  of  the  famous  society  of 
Friars-minors,  or  Franciscans,  whose  writings  were 

(b)  For  a  more  ample  account  of  all   these   writers,  the 
reader  may  consult  the  Bibliotheca  Grseca  of  Fabricius. 

(c)  The  life  of  Joachim  was  written  in  Italian  by  Gregory 
di  Lauro,  and  published  in  4to.  at  Naples  in  the  year  1660. 
The  first  edition  of  his  prophecies  was  printed  at  Venice,  in 
the  year  1517,  and  was  followed  by  several  new  editions,  to 
satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the  populace,  great  and  small. 

learne 


_  Langton  was  a  learned  and  polite  author  for  the 

age  he  lived  in.  It  is  to  him  we  are  indebted  for  the  division 
of  the  Bible  into  chapters.  He  wrote  commentaries  upon  all 
the  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  upon  St.  Paul's  Epistles. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  239 

designed  to  touch  the  heart,  and  excite  pious  and    CENT. 
devout  sentiments,  but  discover  little  genius,  and 
less  judgment  ; 

Alan  de  Plsle,  a  logician,  who  made  no  mean 
figure  among  the  disputatious  tribe,  who  applied 
himself  also  to  the  study  of  chemistry,  and  pub- 
lished several  moral  discourses,  in  which  there 
are  many  wise  and  useful  exhortations  and  pre- 
cepts^); 

Jacobus  de  Vitriaco,  who  acquired  a  name  by 
his  Oriental  History  ;  and  Jacobus  de  Voragine, 
whose  History  of  the  Lombards  (jf)  was  received 
with  applause. 

The  writers  of  this  century,  who  obtained  the 
greatest  renown  on  account  of  their  laborious 
researches  in  what  was  called  philosophical  or 
dialectical  theology,  were  Albertus  Magnus, 
Thomas  Aquinas,  and  Bonaventura,  who  were, 
each  of  them,  truly  possessed  of  an  inquisitive 
turn  of  mind,  a  sublime  and  penetrating  genius, 
accompanied  with  an  uncommon  talent  of  sound- 
ing the  most  hidden  truths,  and  treating  with 
facility  the  most  abstruse  subjects,  though  they 
are  all  chargeable  with  errors  and  reveries  that 
do  little  honour  to  their  memories  (g*).  The 


(e}  Several  of  the  name  of  Alan  lived  in  this  century,  who 
have  been  strangely  confounded,  both  by  ancient  and  modern 
writers.  See  Jaq.  le  Boeuf,  Memoires  sur  FHist.  d'Auxerre, 
torn.  i.  p.  300.  and  Dissert,  sur  1'Hist.  Civil  et  Eccles.  de  Paris, 
torn.  ii.  p.  293. 

(f)  Jac.  Echardi  Scriptor.Domin.  tom.i.  p.  454*. — Bollandi 
Praef.  ad  Acta  Sanctor.  torn.  i.  p.  9. 

(g)  For  an  account  of  Albert,  see  Echard.  Script.  Dom. 
tom.i.  p.  162. — For  an  account  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  was 
called  the  Angel  of  the  Scholastics,  among  other  splendid  titles, 
see  the  Acta  Sanctorum,  torn.  i.  Martii,  p.  655.  and  Ant.  Tu- 
ron,  Vie  de  St.  Thomas,  Paris,  1737,  in  4to. — We  have  also  a 
circumstantial  relation  of  whatever  concerns  the  life,  writings, 
and  exploits  of  Bonaventura,  the  tutelary  saint  of  the  Lion- 
nois,  in  France,  in  the  two  following  books,  viz.  Colonia,  His- 
toire  Litteraire  de  la  Ville  de  Lyon,  torn.  ii.  p.  307,  and  the 


240  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  other  writers,  who  trod  the  same  intricate  paths 
°f  metaphysical  divinity,  were  many  in  number, 
and  several  of  them  justly  admired,  though  much 
inferior  in  renown  to  the  celebrated  triumvirate 
now  mentioned  ;  such  were  Alexander  de  Hales, 
the  interpreter  of  Aristotle,  William  of  Paris  (//), 
Robert  Capito  (&'),  Thomas  Cantipratensis,  John 
de  Peckham,  William  Durand,  Roger  Bacon  (&), 
Richard  Middleton,  ^gidius  de  Columna,  Ar- 
mand  de  Bello  Visu,  and  several  others. 

Hugo  de  St.  Caro  gained  much  applause  by 
the  Concordance,  which  he  composed  of  the  Holy 
Bible  (/). 

Guillaume  de  St.  Amour  carried  on  with  great 
spirit  and  resolution,  but  with  little  success,  a 
literary  and  theological  war  against  the  Mendi- 
cant Friars,  who  looked  upon  begging  as  a  mark 
of  sanctity. 

Humbert  de  Romanis  drew  up  a  system  of 
rules  and  precepts  with  a  view  to  put  under  a 
better  regulation  the  lives  and  manners  of  the 
monastic  orders. 


Histoire  de  la  Vie  et  du  Culte  de  S.  Bonaventure,  par  un  Re- 
ligieux  Cordelier,  a  Lyon,  1747,  in  8vo. 

(h)  See  the  Gallia  Christiana,  published  by  the  Benedic- 
tines, torn.  vii.  p.  95. 

(i)  The  learned  Anthony  Wood  has  given  an  ample  ac- 
count of  Robert  Capito,  in  his  Antiquitat.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i. 
p.  81.  105. 

gjg'3  (k)  We  are  surprised  to  find  Roger  Bacon  thrust  here 
into  a  crowd  of  vulgar  literati,  since  that  great  man,  whose 
astonishing  genius  and  universal  learning  have  already  been 
taken  notice  of,  was,  in  every  respect,  superior  to  Albert 
and  Bonaventura,  two  of  the  heroes  of  Dr.  Mosheim's  trium- 
virate. 

Ifgp2'  (1)  Hugo  de  St.  Caro,  or  St.  Cher,  composed  also  a 
very  learned  collection  of  the  various  readings  of  the  He- 
brew, Greek,  and  Latin  manuscripts  of  the  Bible.  This  work, 
which  he  entitled  Correctorium  Bibliae,  is  preserved  in  ma- 
nuscript in  the  Sorbonne  library.  We  must  not  forget  to 
observe  also,  that  his  Concordance  is  the  first  that  ever  was 
compiled. 


CHAP.  ur.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

Guilielmus   Peraldus  arose  in  this  century  to    CENT. 
the  highest  degree  of  literary  renown,  in  conse-  „  XIII> 

r  c  ii_  LI-  i    J         J        PART  "• 

quence  of  a  system  of  morals  he  published  under 

the  title  of  Summa  Virtutem  et  Vitiorum  (m). 

Raymond  Martin  yet  survives  the  oblivion  that 
has  covered  many  of  his  cotemporaries ;  and  his 
Pugio  Fidei,  or  Sword  of  Faith,  which  he  drew 
against  the  Jews  and  Saracens,  has  escaped  the 
ruins  of  time. 

John  of  Paris  deserves  an  eminent  rank  among 
the  glorious  defenders  of  truth,  liberty,  and  jus- 
tice ;  since  he  maintained  the  authority  of  the 
civil  powers,  and  the  majesty  of  kings  and  princes, 
against  the  ambitious  stratagems  and  usurpations 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  and  declared  openly  his 
opposition  to  the  opinion  that  was  commonly 
adopted  with  respect  to  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  and  the  presence  of  Christ  in  that 
holy  ordinance  (n). 


CHAPTER  III. 

Concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the  Christian  Church , 
during  this  Century. 

I.  HOWEVER  numerous  and  deplorable  the  cor-  The  gene- 
ruptions  and  superstitious  abuses  were,  that  had 
hitherto  reigned  in  the  church,  and  deformed 
the  beautiful  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  they  were 
nevertheless  increased  in  this  century,  instead 
of  being  reformed,  and  the  religion  of  Christ 

(m)  See  Colonia,  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  Ville  de  Lyon, 
torn.  ii.  p.  322. 

(n)  We  may  learn  his  opinion  concerning  the  eucharist 
from  his  treatise,  entitled,  Determinatio  de  S.  Ccena,  and 
published  in  Svo.  at  London,  by  the  learned  Dr.  Alix,  in  the 
year  1686. — See  also  Echardi  Scriptor.  Dominican,  torn.  i.  p. 
501 — Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenionens.  torn.  i.  p.  4.576, 
577. 

VOL.  III.  R 


PART 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  continued  to  suffer  under  the  growing  tyranny 
T  n  of  fanaticism  and  superstition.  The  progress  of 
reason  and  truth  was  retarded  among  the  Greeks 
and  Orientals,  by  their  immoderate  aversion  to 
the  Latins,  their  blind  admiration  of  whatever 
bore  the  stamp  of  antiquity,  the  indolence  of 
their  bishops,  the  stupidity  of  their  clergy,  and 
the  calamities  of  the  times.  Among  the  Latins, 
many  concurring  causes  united  to  augment  the 
darkness  of  that  cloud  that  had  already  been 
cast  over  the  divine  lustre  of  genuine  Christianity. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  Roman  pontiffs  could 
not  bear  the  thoughts  of  any  thing  that  might 
have  the  remotest  tendency  to  diminish  their 
authority,  or  to  encroach  upon  their  prerogatives; 
and  therefore  they  laboured  assiduously  to  keep 
the  multitude  in  the  dark,  and  to  blast  every 
attempt  that  was  made  towards  a  reformation  in 
the  doctrine  or  discipline  of  the  church.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  school  divines,  among  whom 
the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  monks  made  the 
greatest  figure  on  account  of  their  unintelligible 
jargon  and  subtilty,  shed  perplexity  and  darkness 
over  the  plain  truths  of  religion  by  their  intricate 
distinctions  and  endless  divisions,  and  by  that 
cavilling,  quibbling,  disputatious  spirit,  that  is  the 
mortal  enemy  both  of  truth  and  virtue.  It  is 
true,  that  these  scholastic  doctors  were  not  all 
equally  chargeable  with  corrupting  the  truth  ; 
the  most  enormous  and  criminal  corrupters  of 
Christianity  were  those  who  led  the  multitude 
into  the  two  following  abominable  errors  ;  that  it 
was  in  the  power  of  man  to  perform,  if  he  pleased, 
a  more  perfect  obedience  than  God  required ;  and 
that  the  whole  of  religion  consisted  in  an  trxterrrn! 
air  of  gravity,  and  in  certain  composed  bodily 
gestures. 

II.  It  will  be  easy  to  confirm  this  general  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  religion  by  particular  facts. 


CHAP.  in.   The  Doctrine  of  the  Church  24$ 

In  the  fourth  council  of  the  Lateran  that  was  held    CENT. 

XIII. 

PART    II. 


by  Innocent  III.  in  the  year  1215,  and  at  which 


a  prodigious  number  of  ecclesiastics  were  assem- 

bled  (o),  that   imperious  pontiff,   without  deign-  New  arti- 

i  V  T_    'i  P        cles  of  faith 

mg  to  consult  any  body,  published  no  less  than  imposed  by 
seventy  laws  or  decrees,  by  which  not  only  the  J™ocent 
authority  of  the  popes  arid  the  power  of  the 
clergy  were  confirmed  and  extended,  but  also 
new  doctrines,  or  articles  of  faith,  were  imposed 
upon  Christians.  Hitherto  the  opinions  of  the 
Christian  doctors,  concerning  the  manner  in 
which  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  pre- 
sent in  the  eucharist,  were  extremely  different; 
nor  had  the  church  determined,  by  any  clear  and 
positive  decree,  the  sentiment  that  was  to  be 
embraced  in  relation  to  that  important  matter. 
It  was  reserved  for  Innocent  to  put  an  end  to 
the  liberty,  which  every  Christian  had  hitherto 
enjoyed,  of  interpreting  this  presence  in  the  man- 
ner he  thought  most  agreeable  to  the  declarations 
of  scripture,  and  to  decide  in  favour  of  the  most 
monstrous  doctrine  that  the  frenzy  of  superstition 
was  capable  of  inventing.  This  audacious  pontiff 
pronounced  the  opinion,  that  is  embraced  at  this 
day  in  the  church  of  Rome  relating  to  that  point, 
to  be  the  only  true  and  orthodox  account  of  the 
matter ;  and  he  had  the  honour  of  introducing 
and  establishing  the  use  of  the  term  Transubstan- 
tiation,  which  was  hitherto  absolutely  unknown  Q?). 
The  same  pontiff  placed,  by  his  own  autho- 
rity, among  the  duties  prescribed  by  the  divine 
laws,  that  of  auricular  confession  to  a  priest  ; 
a  confession  that  implied  not  only  a  general 
acknowledgment,  but  also  a  particular  enumera- 
tion of  the  sins  and  follies  of  the  penitent.  Before 


(o)  At  this  council  there  were  present  4?  12  bishops, 
800  abbots  and  priors,  besides  the  ambassadors  of  almost  all 
the  Europeanprinces. 

(p)  See  Edm.  Albertinus,  De  Eucharistia,  lib.  iii.p.  972. 


244-  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  this  period  several  doctors,  indeed,  looked  upon 
PART  ii.  this  kind  of  confession  as  a  duty  inculcated  by 
divine  authority  ;  but  this  opinion  was  not  pub- 
licly received  as  the  doctrine  of  the  church.  For 
though  the  confession  of  sins  was  justly  looked 
upon  as  an  essential  duty,  yet  it  was  left  to  every 
Christian's  choice  to  make  this  confession  men- 
tally to  the  Supreme  Being,  or  to  express  it  in 
words  to  a  spiritual  confident  and  director  (</). 
These  two  laws,  which,  by  the  authority  of  Inno- 
cent, were  received  as  laws  of  God,  and  adopted, 
of  consequence,  as  laws  of  the  church,  occasioned 
a  multitude  of  new  injunctions  and  rites,  of 
which  not  even  the  smallest  traces  are  to  be  found 
in  the  sacred  writings,  or  in  the  apostolic  and  pri- 
mitive ages  ;  and  which  were  much  more  adapted 
to  establish  and  extend  the  reign  of  superstition 
than  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  blinded  multitude 
upon  the  enormous  abuses  of  which  it  had  been 
the  source. 
The  sect  of  jjj  There  is  nothing  that  will  contribute  more 

the  Flagel-  .  &  .  «..,..,. 

or  to  convince  us  of  the  miserable  state  of  religion 
jn  tnjs  century,  and  of  the  frenzy  that  almost 
generally  prevailed  in  the  devotion  of  these  un- 
happy times,  than  the  rise  of  the  sect  called 
Flagellantes,  or  Whippers,  which  sprung  up  in 
Italy  in  the  year  1260,  and  was  propagated 
from  thence  through  almost  all  the  countries  of 
Europe.  The  societies  that  embraced  this  new 
discipline  presented  the  most  hideous  and  shock- 
ing spectacle  that  can  well  be  conceived ;  they 
ran  in  multitudes,  composed  of  persons  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  all  ranks  and  ages,  through  the 
public  places  of  the  most  populous  cities,  and  also 
through  the  fields  and  deserts,  with  whips  in  their 
hands,  lashing  their  naked  bodies  with  the  most 
astonishing  severity,  filling  the  air  with  their  wild 

(q)  See  the  book  of  the  learned  Daille,  Concerning  Auri- 
cular Confession. 


CHAP.  in.       The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

shrieks,  and  beholding  the  firmament  with  an  air  CENT. 
of  distraction,  ferocity,  and  horror;  and  all  this 
with  a  view  to  obtain  the  divine  mercy  for  them- 
selves and  others,  by  their  voluntary  mortification 
and  penance  (r).  This  method  of  appeasing  the 
Deity  was  perfectly  conformable  to  the  notions 
concerning  religion  that  generally  prevailed  in  this 
century  ;  nor  did  these  fanatical  Whippers  do  any 
thing  more,  in  this  extravagant  discipline,  than 
practise  the  lessons  they  had  received  from  the 
monks,  especially  from  those  of  the  Mendicant 
orders.  Hence  they  attracted  the  esteem  and 
veneration,  not  only  of  the  populace,  but  also  of 
their  rulers,  and  were  honoured  and  revered  by 
all  ranks  and  orders,  on  account  of  their  extra- 
ordinary sanctity  and  virtue.  Their  sect,  how- 
ever, did  not  continue  always  in  the  same  high 
degree  of  credit  and  reputation ;  for  though  the 
primitive  Whippers  were  exemplary  in  point  of 
morals,  yet  their  societies  were  augmented,  as 
might  naturally  be  expected,  by  a  turbulent  and 
furious  rabble,  many  of  whom  were  infected  with 
the  most  ridiculous  and  impious  opinions.  Hence 
both  the  emperors  and  pontiffs  thought  proper  to 
put  an  end  to  this  religious  frenzy,  by  declaring 
all  devout  whipping  contrary  to  the  divine  law, 
and  prejudicial  to  the  soul's  eternal  interests. 

IV.    The  Christian  interpreters  and  commen-  The 
tators  of  this  century  differ  very  little  from  those  ' 
of   the    preceding    times.     The   greatest  part  ofandex- 
them  pretended  to  draw  from  the  depths  of  truth  jJJS^1 
or  rather  of  their  imaginations)  what  they  called  little  alter- 
e  internal  juice  and  marrow  of  the  scriptures,  century.1" 

(r)  Christ.  Schotgenii  Historic  Flagellantium. — Jaques 
Boileau,  Histoire  des  Flagellans,  chap.  ix.  p.  253.  We  have 
also  alively  picture  of  this  fanatical  discipline  of  the  Whippers 
exhibited  in  Martene's  Voyage  Litteraire  de  deux  Benedic- 
tins,  tom.ii.  p.  105.  with  which  the  reader  may  compare  Mu- 
ratori  Antiq.  Ital.  Medii  .^Evi,  torn.  vi.  p.  469. 


246  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    i.  e.  their  hidden  and  mysterious  sense ;  and  this 
XIIL     they  did  with  so  little  dexterity,  so  little  plausi- 

"P.ARTII»_».|»  1*  •  T  1  /*         1          •  1  • 

bility  and  invention,  that  the  most  of  their  expli- 
cations must  appear  insipid  and  nauseous  to  such 
as  are  not  entirely  destitute  of  judgment  and 
taste.  If  our  readers  be  desirous  of  a  proof  of 
the  justice  of  this  censure,  or  curious  to  try  the 
extent  of  their  patience,  they  have  only  to  peruse 
the  explications  that  have  been  given  by  arch- 
bishop Langton,  Hugh  de  St.  Cher,  and  An- 
tony of  Padua,  of  the  various  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament.  The  Mystic  doctors  carried 
this  visionary  method  of  interpreting  scripture  to 
the  greatest  height,  and  displayed  the  most  labo- 
rious industry,  or  rather  the  most  egregious  folly, 
in  searching  for  mysteries,  where  reason  and  com- 
mon sense  could  find  nothing  but  plain  and  evi- 
dent truths.  They  were  too  penetrating  and 
quick-sighted  not  to  perceive  clearly  in  the  holy 
scriptures  all  those  doctrines  that  were  agreeable  to 
their  idle  and  fantastic  system.  Nor  were  their 
adversaries,  the  schoolmen,  entirely  averse  to  this 
arbitrary  and  fanciful  manner  of  interpretation  ; 
though  their  principal  industry  was  employed 
rather  in  collecting  the  explications  given  by  the 
ancient  doctors  than  in  inventing  new  ones,  as 
appears  from  the  writings  of  Alexander  Hales, 
Guilielmus  Alvernus,  and  Thomas  Aquinas  him- 
self. We  must  not,  however,  omit  observing, 
that  the  scholastic  doctors  in  general,  and  more 
especially  these  now  mentioned,  had  recourse 
often  to  the  subtilties  of  logic  and  metaphysic, 
to  assist  them  in  their  explications  of  the  sacred 
writings.  To  facilitate  the  study  and  inter- 
pretation of  these  divine  books,  Hugh  de  St. 
Cher  composed  his  Concordance  (s),  and  the  Do- 
minicans, under  the  eye  of  their  supreme  chief, 

/•»)  Echardi  Scriptor.  Ord.  Prapdicator.  torn,  i,  p.  194-. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  247 

the  learned  Jordan,  gave  a  new  edition  of  the  CENT. 
Latin  translation  of  the  Bible,  carefully  revised 
and  corrected  from  the  ancient  copies  (f).  The 
Greeks  contributed  nothing  that  deserves  atten- 
tion towards  the  illustration  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures ;  the  greatest  part  of  which  were  expounded 
with  great  learning  by  Gregory  Abulpharaius,  that 
celebrated  Syrian,  whose  erudition  was  famous 
throughout  all  the  east,  and  whom  we  have  already 
had  occasion  to  mention  in  the  course  of  this 
history  (u). 

V.  Systems  of  theology  and  morals  were  mul-  The  state 
tiplied  exceedingly  in  this  century ;  and  the 
number  of  those  writers,  who  treated  of  the  logy. 
divine  perfections  and  worship,  and  of  the  prac- 
tical rules  of  virtue  and  obedience,  is  too  great  to 
permit  our  mentioning  them  particularly.  All 
such  as  were  endowed  with  any  considerable 
degree  of  genius  and  eloquence  employed  their 
labours  upon  these  noble  branches  of  sacred 
science,  more  especially  the  academical  and  public 
teachers,  among  whom  the  Dominicans  and  Fran- 
ciscans held  the  most  eminent  rank.  It  is, 
indeed,  neither  necessary  to  mention  the  names, 
nor  to  enumerate  the  productions  of  these  doctors, 
since  whoever  is  acquainted  with  the  characters 
and  writings  of  Albert  the  Great,  and  Thomas 
Aquinas,  will  know  every  thing  that  is  worthy 
of  note  in  the  rest,  who  were  no  more  than  their 
echos.  The  latter  of  these  two  truly  great  men, 
who  is  commonly  called  the  Angel  of  the  Schools, 
or  the  Angelic  Doctor,  sat  unrivalled  at  the  head 
of  the  divines  of  this  century,  and  deservedly 
obtained  the  principal  place  among  those  who 
digested  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  into  a  regular 

(t)  Rich.  Simon,  Critique  de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs 
Eccles.  par  M.  Du  Pin. 

(u)  Jos.  Sim.  Assemanni  Biblioth.  Orient.  Vatican,  torn.  ii. 
p.  277. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    system,  and  illustrated  and  explained  them  in  a 
rS/it   sci611^0  manner.     For  no  sooner  had  his  system, 

or  sum  of  theology  and  morals,   seen  the  light, 

than  it  was  received  universally  with  the  highest 
applause,  placed  in  the  same  rank  with  the 
famous  Book  of  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard, 
and  admitted  as  the  standard  of  truth,  and 
the  great  rule  according  to  which  the  public 
teachers  formed  their  plans  of  instruction,  and 
the  youth  their  method  of  study.  Certain  writers, 
indeed,  have  denied  that  Thomas  was  the  author 
of  the  celebrated  system  that  bears  his  name  (w) ; 
but  the  reasons  they  allege  in  support  of  this 
notion  are  utterly  destitute  of  evidence  and  soli- 
dity (V). 

The  scho-  VI.  The  greatest  part  of  these  doctors  followed 
tors°forC"  Aristotle  as  their  model,  and  made  use  of  the 
the  most  logical  and  metaphysical  principles  of  that  subtile 
philosopher,  in  illustrating  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  removing  the  difficulties  with  which 
some  of  them  were  attended.  In  their  philoso- 
phical explications  of  the  more  sublime  truths  of 
that  divine  religion  they  followed  the  hypothesis 
of  the  Realists,  which  sect,  in  this  century,  was 
much  more  numerous  and  flourishing  than  that 
of  the  Nominalists,  on  account  of  the  lustre  and 
credit  it  derived  from  the  authority  of  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  Albert,  its  learned  and  venerable 
patrons.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  the  subtilty  and 


(w)  See  Jo.  Launoii  Traditio  Ecclesise  circa  Simoniam,  p. 
290. 

(,r)  See  Natalis  Alexander,  Histor.  Eccles.  Saec.  xiii.p.  391. 
— Echard  and  Quetif,  Scriptor.  Ordin.  Pnedicator.  Ssec.  xiii. 
torn.  i.  p.  293. — Ant.  Touron,  Vie  de  St.  Thomas,  p.  60*. 

Ijl^p13  *  In  the  original  we  find  Positivi  in  the  margin,  which 
is  manifestly  a  fault;  since  the  Positivi  were  quite  opposite, 
in  their  method  of  teaching,  to  the  schoolmen,  and  were  the 
same  with  Bihlici  mentioned  in  the  following  section.  cee 
above,  Cent.  XII.  Part  II.  Ch.  III.  sect.  VIII. 


CHAP.  in.    The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  249 

penetration  of  these  irrefragable,  seraphic,  and  CENT. 
angelic  doctors,  as  they  were  commonly  styled,  they  XIIL 
often  appeared  wiser  in  their  own  conceit  than  __£_ 
they  were  in  reality,  and  frequently  did  little 
more  than  involve  in  greater  obscurity  the  doc- 
trines which  they  pretended  to  place  in  the  clearest 
light.  For,  not  to  mention  the  ridiculous  oddity 
of  many  of  their  expressions,  the  hideous  bar- 
barity of  their  style,  and  their  extravagant  and 
presumptuous  desire  of  prying  into  matters  that 
infinitely  surpass  the  comprehension  of  short- 
sighted mortals,  they  were  chargeable  with  defects 
in  their  manner  of  reasoning,  which  every  true 
philosopher  will,  of  all  others,  be  most  careful  to 
avoid.  For  they  neither  defined  their  terms 
accurately,  and  hence  arose  innumerable  disputes 
merely  about  words  ;  nor  did  they  divide  their 
subject  with  perspicuity  and  precision,  and  hence 
they  generally  treated  it  in  a  confused  and  un- 
satisfactory manner.  The  great  Angelic  Doctor 
himself,  notwithstanding  his  boasted  method,  was 
defective  in  these  respects ;  his  definitions  are 
often  vague,  or  obscure,  and  his  plans  or  divisions, 
though  full  of  art,  are  frequently  destitute  of 
clearness  and  proportion. 

VII.  The  method  of  investigating  divine  truth  The  num- 
by  reason  and  philosophy  prevailed  so  universally,  b^r°gf  ™m~ 
and  was    followed  with    such   ardour,    that   the  Bibiicists », 
number   of  those,  who,   in  conformity  with  the 
example  of  the  ancient  doctors,  drew  their  systems 
of  theology   from   the    holy   scriptures   and  the 

[gp23  *  In  the  margin  of  the  original,  instead  of  Bibiicists, 
which  we  find  in  the  text,  Dr.  Mosheim  has  wrote  Sententia- 
rii,  which  is  undoubtedly  an  oversight.  The  Sententiarii,  or 
followers  of  Peter  Lombard,  who  is  considered  as  the  father 
of  the  scholastic  philosophy,  are  to  be  placed  in  the  same 
class  with  the  philosophical  divines,  mentioned  in  the  pre- 
ceding section,  and  were  quite  opposite  to  the  Biblici,  both 
in  their  manner  of  thinking  and  teaching.  See  above,  Cent. 
XII.  Part  II.  chap.  III.  sect.  VIII. 


250  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  writings  of  the  fathers,  and  who  acquired  on  that 
PART  ii,  account  the  name  of  Biblicists,  diminished  from 
.  day  to  day.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that  several  per- 
sons of  eminent  piety  (?/),  and  even  some  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs  (2),  exhorted  with  great  serious- 
ness and  warmth  the  scholastic  divines,  and  more 
especially  those  of  the  university  of  Paris,  to 
change  their  method  of  teaching  theology,  and, 
laying  aside  their  philosophical  abstraction  and 
subtilty,  to  deduce  the  sublime  science  of  salva- 
tion from  the  holy  scriptures  with  that  purity  and 
simplicity  with  which  it  was  there  delivered  by 
the  inspired  writers.  But  these  admonitions  and 
exhortations  were  without  effect ;  the  evil  was 
become  too  inveterate  to  admit  of  a  remedy,  and 
the  passion  for  logic  and  metaphysic  was  grown 
so  universal  and  so  violent,  that  neither  remon- 
strances nor  arguments  could  check  its  presump- 
tion, or  allay  its  ardour.  In  justice  however  to 
the  scholastic  doctors,  it  is  necessary  to  observe, 
that  they  did  not  neglect  the  dictates  of  the  go- 
spel, nor  the  authority  of  tradition  ;  though  what 
they  drew  from  these  two  sources  proves  suffi- 
ciently that  they  had  studied  neither  with  much 
attention  or  application  of  mind  (#).  And  it  is 
moreover  certain,  that,  in  process  of  time,  they 

(y)  See  Du  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  9.  129. 
180. — Ant.  Wood,  Antiq.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i.  p.  91,  92.  94. 

(z)  See  the  famous  epistle  of  Gregory  IX.  to  the  professors 
in  the  university  of  Paris,  published  in  Du  Boulay's  Histor. 
Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  129.  The  pontiff  concludes  that 
remarkable  epistle  with  the  following  words :  "  Mandamus  et 
stricte  praecipimus,  quatenus  sine  fermento  mundane  scientise, 
doceatis  Theologicam  puritatem  non  adulterantes  verbum 
Dei  Philosophorum  figmentis...sed  content!  terminis  a  patri- 
bus  institutis  mentes  auditorum  vestrorum  fructu  coelestis 
eloquii  saginetis,  ut  hauriant  a  fontibus  salvatoris. 

(a)  Faydit,  Alteration  du  Dogme  Theologique  par  la  Phi- 
losophic d'Aristote,  p.  289. — Richard  Simon,  Critique  de  la 
Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Eccles.  par  M.  Du  Pin,  torn.  i.  p. 
170.187. 


CHAP.  in.  The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  251 

committed  to  others  the  care  of  consulting  the  CENT. 
sources  now  mentioned,  and  reserved  to  them- 
selves  the  much  respected  province  of  philosophy, 
and  the  intricate  mazes  of  dialectical  chicane. 
And,  indeed,  independent  of  their  philosophical 
vanity,  we  may  assign  another  reason  for  this 
method  of  proceeding,  drawn  from  the  nature  of 
their  profession,  and  the  circumstances  in  which 
they  were  placed.  For  the  greatest  part  of  these 
subtile  doctors  were  Dominican  or  Franciscan 
friars  ;  and  as  the  monks  of  these  orders  had  no 
possessions,  not  even  libraries,  and  led,  besides, 
wandering  and  itinerant  lives,  such  of  them  as 
were  ambitious  of  literary  fame,  and  of  the  honours 
of  authorship,  were,  for  the  most  part,  obliged 
to  draw  their  materials  from  their  own  genius  and 
memory,  being  destitute  of  all  other  succours. 

VIII.  The  opinions  which  these  philosophical  Much  op- 
divines  instilled  into  the  minds  of  the  youth  ap-  f™^™  the 


t 

peared  to  the  votaries  of  the  ancient  fathers  highly  scholastic 
dangerous  and  even  pernicious  ;  and  hence  they  doctors- 
used  their  utmost  efforts  to  stop  the  progress  of 
these  opinions,  and  to  diminish  the  credit  and  in- 
fluence of  their  authors.  Nor  was  their  oppo- 
sition at  all  ill-grounded  ;  for  the  subtile  doctors 
of  the  school  not  only  explained  the  mysteries  of 
religion  in  a  manner  conformable  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  their  presumptuous  logic,  and  modified 
them  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  imperfect 
reason,  but  also  propagated  the  most  impious 
sentiments  and  tenets  concerning  the  Supreme 
Being,  the  material  world,  the  origin  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  the  nature  of  the  soul.  And  when  it 
was  objected  to  these  sentiments  and  tenets,  that 
they  were  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  genius  of 
Christianity,  and  to  the  express  doctrines  of  scrip- 
ture, these  scholastic  quibblers  had  recourse,  for 
a  reply,  or  rather  for  a  method  of  escape,  to 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    that  perfidious  distinction,   which  has  been  fre- 
PART  ii.  quently  employed  by  modern  deists,   that  these 

- tenets  were  philosophically  true,  and  conformable 

to  right  reason,  but  that  they  were,  indeed,  theo- 
logically false,  and  contrary  to  the  orthodox  faith. 
This  kindled  an  open  war  between  the  Biblicists, 
or  Bible-divines,  and  the  scholastic  doctors,  which 
was  carried  on  with  great  warmth  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  this  century,  particularly  in  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Paris,  where  we  find 
the  former  loading  the  latter  with  the  heaviest 
reproaches  in  their  public  acts  and  in  their  po- 
lemic writings,  and  accusing  them  of  corrupting 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  both  in  their  public 
lessons,  and  in  their  private  discourse  (&).  Even 
St.  Thomas  himself  was  accused  of  holding  opi- 
nions contrary  to  the  truth  ;  his  orthodoxy,  at 
least,  was  looked  upon  as  extremely  dubious  by 
many  of  the  Parisian  doctors  (c).  He  accordingly 
saw  a  formidable  scene  of  opposition  arising 
against  him,  but  had  the  good  fortune  to  conjure 
the  storm,  and  to  escape  untouched.  Others, 
whose  authority  was  less  extensive,  and  their 
names  less  respectable,  were  treated  with  more 
severity.  The  living  were  obliged  to  confess 
publicly  their  errors  ;  and  the  dead,  who  had  per- 
severed in  them  to  the  last,  had  their  memories 
branded  with  infamy. 

The  My-         IX.  But  the   most  formidable  adversaries  the 
sties  oppose  scholastic  doctors  had  to  encounter  were  the  My- 

the  school-         .  ,  ..  ,.  11111 

men.          sties,  who,  rejecting  every  thing  that  had  the  least 
resemblance  of  argumentation  or  dispute   about 

(b)  See  Matth.  Paris,   Histor.   Major,  p.  541. — Boulay, 
Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iii.  p.  397.  430.  433.  472,  &c. 

(c)  See  Jo.  Launoii  Histor.  Gymnas.  Navarreni,  part  III. 
lib.  iii.  cap.  cxvi.  torn.  iv.  opp    part  I.  p.  485. — Boulay,  Hi- 
stor. Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  204. — Petri  Zornii  Opuscula  Sa- 
cra, torn.  i.  p.  445. — R.  Simon,  Lettres  Choisies,  torn.  ii.  p. 
266. — Echardi  Scriptor.  Ordin.  Praedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  435. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  253 

matters  of   doctrine  and  opinion,  confined  their    CENT. 
endeavours  to  the  advancement  of  inward  piety,     XIIL 
and  the  propagation  of  devout  and  tender  feelings,  Jj^_!lL 
and  thus  acquired  the  highest  degree   of  popu- 
larity.    The  people,  who  are  much  more  affected 
with  what  touches  their  passions  than  with  what 
is  only  addressed  to  their  reason,  were  attached 
to  the  Mystics  in  the  warmest  manner;    and  this 
gave  such  weight  to  the  reproaches  and  invectives 
which  they  threw  out  against  the  schoolmen,  that 
the   latter   thought  it  more   prudent   to    disarm 
these  favourites  of  the  multitude  by  mild  and  sub- 
missive measures,  than  to  return  their  reproaches 
with  indignation  and  bitterness.     They  accord- 
ingly set  themselves  to  flatter  the  Mystics,  and 
not  only  extolled  their  sentimental  system,  but 
employed  their  pens  in  illustrating  and  defending 
it ;  nay,  they  associated  it  with  the  scholastic  phi- 
losophy, though  they  were  as  different  from  each 
other  as  any  two  things  could  possibly  be.     It  is 
well  known  that  Bonaventura,  Albert  the  Great, 
Robert    Capito,    and    Thomas    Aquinas    contri- 
buted to  this   reconciliation    between    Mysticism 
and  Dialectics  by  their  learned  labours,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  write  commentaries  upon  Dio- 
nysius,  the  chief  of   the    Mystics,    whom   these 
subtile  doctors  probably  looked  upon  with  a  secret 
contempt. 

X.    Both  the  schoolmen  and  Mystics  of  this  The  state 
century  treated,  in  their  writings,  of  the  obliga- of  Christian 
tions  of  morality,  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life,  m 
and  of  the  means  that  were  most  adapted  to  pre- 
serve or  deliver  the  soul  from  the  servitude  and 
contagion  of  vice  -,  but  their  methods  of  handling 
these  important  subjects  were,  as  may  be  easily 
conceived,  entirely  different.     We  may  form  an 
idea  of  mystical  morality  from  the  Observations  of 
George  Pachymeres,  upon  the  writings  of  Diony- 
sius,  and  from  the  Spiritual  Institutes,  or  Abridg- 


CXIIL" 
PART  ii. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church* 

ment  of  Mystic  Theology,  composed  by  Humbert 
de  Romanis,  of  which  productions  the  first  was 
written  in  Greek,  and  the  second  in  Latin.  As 
to  the  scholastic  moralists,  they  were  principally 
employed  in  defining  the  nature  of  virtue  and 
vice  in  general,  and  the  characters  of  the  various 
virtues  and  vices  in  particular ;  and  hence  the 
prodigious  number  of  sums,  or  systematical  col- 
lections of  virtues  and  vices,  that  appeared  in 
this  century.  The  schoolmen  divided  the  virtues 
into  two  classes.  The  first  comprehended  the 
moral  virtues,  which  differ,  in  no  respect,  from 
those  which  Aristotle  recommended  to  his  dis- 
ciples. The  second  contained  the  theological 
virtues,  which,  in  consequence  of  what  St.  Paul 
says,  1  Corinth,  xiii.  13.  they  made  to  consist  in 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity.  In  explaining  and 
illustrating  the  nature  of  the  virtues,  comprehended 
in  these  two  classes,  they  seemed  rather  to  have 
in  view  the  pleasure  of  disputing,  than  the  design 
of  instructing  ;  and  they  exhausted  all  their  sub- 
tilty  in  resolving  difficulties  which  were  of  their 
own  creation.  Thomas  Aquinas  shone  forth  as  a 
star  of  the  first  magnitude,  though,  like  the  others, 
he  was  often  covered  with  impenetrable  fogs. 
The  second  part  of  his  famous  sum  was  wholly 
employed  in  laying  down  the  principles  of  mo- 
rality, and  in  deducing  and  illustrating  the  various 
duties  that  result  from  them  ;  and  this  part  of  his 
learned  labours  has  had  the  honour  and  misfor- 
tune of  passing  through  the  hands  of  a  truly  pro- 
digious number  of  commentators. 

XL  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  observe  here, 
that  the  moral  writers  of  this  and  the  following 
centuries  must  be  read  with  the  utmost  caution  ; 
and  with  a  perpetual  attention  to  this  circum- 
tbis  century.  stance,  that,  though  they  employ  the  same  terms 
that  we  find  in  the  sacred  writings,  yet  they  use 
them  in  a  quite  different  sense  from  that  which 


An  impor- 


the  manner 


CHAP.  in.       The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  255 

they  bear  in  these  divine  books.     They  speak  of   CENT. 
justice,  charity,  faith,  and  holiness ;    but  as  these  p™^t 

virtues  are  illustrated  by  these  quibbling  sophists, 1 

they  differ  much  from  the  amiable  and  sublime 
duties  which  Christ  and  his  disciples  have  incul- 
cated under  the  same  denominations.  A  single 
example  will  be  sufficient  to  render  this  evident 
beyond  contradiction.  A  pious  and  holy  man, 
according  to  the  sense  annexed  by  our  Saviour  to 
these  terms,  is  one,  who  consecrates  his  affections 
and  actions  to  the  service  of  the  Supreme  Being, 
and  accounts  it  his  highest  honour  and  felicity, 
as  well  as  his  indispensable  duty,  to  obey  his 
laws.  But,  in  the  style  of  the  moral  writers  of 
this  age,  he  was  a  pious  and  holy  man,  who  de- 
prived himself  of  his  possessions  to  enrich  the 
priesthood,  to  build  churches,  and  found  mona- 
steries, and  whose  faith  and  obedience  were  so  im- 
plicitly enslaved  to  the  imperious  dictates  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  that  he  believed  and  acted  with- 
out examination,  as  these  lordly  directors  thought 
proper  to  prescribe.  Nor  were  the  ideas  which 
these  writers  entertained  concerning  justice  at  all 
conformable  to  the  nature  of  that  virtue,  as  it  is 
described  in  the  holy  scriptures,  since  in  their 
opinion  it  was  lawful  to  injure,  revile,  torment, 
persecute,  and  even  to  put  to  death,  a  heretic, 
i.  e.  any  person  who  refused  to  obey  blindly  the 
decrees  of  the  pontiffs,  or  to  believe  all  the  absur- 
dities which  they  imposed  upon  the  credulity  of 
the  multitude. 

XII.  The  writers  of  controversy  in  this  century  The  state  of 
were  more  numerous  than  respectable.     Nicetas  polemic  or 
Acominatus,    who    made    a    considerable    figure  siTthJo-' 
among   the   Greeks,    attacked    all    the    different10^- 
sects  in  his  work  entitled,  The  Treasure  of  the 
Orthodox  Faith  ;  but  he  combated  after  the  Gre- 
cian manner,  and  defended  the  cause  he  under- 
took to  maintain  rather  by  the  decrees  of  councils, 


256  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and  the  decisions  of  the  fathers,  than  by  the  dic- 

PART1!!   tates  °^  reason»   and   tne   authority  of  scripture. 

Raymond  of  Pennafort  was  one  of  the  first  among 

the  Latins  who  abandoned  the  unchristian  me- 
thod of  converting  infidels  by  the  force  of  arms 
and  the  terrors  of  capital  punishments,  and  who 
undertook  to  vanquish  the  Jews  and  Saracens  by 
reason  and  argument  (</).  This  engaged  in  the 
same  controversy  a  considerable  number  of  able 
disputants,  who  were  acquainted  with  the  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  languages ;  among  whom  Raymond 
Martin,  the  celebrated  author  of  the  Sword  of 
Faith  (V),  is  unquestionably  entitled  to  the  first 
rank.  Thomas  Aquinas  also  appeared  with  dig- 
nity among  the  Christian  champions  ;  and  his 
book  against  the  Gentiles  (f)  is  far  from  being 
contemptible :  nor  ought  we  to  omit  mentioning 
a  learned  book  of  Alan  de  PIsle,  which  was  de- 
signed to  refute  the  objections  of  both  Jews  and 
Pagans  («*).  The  writers,  who  handled  other 
more  particular  branches  of  theological  contro- 
versy, were  far  inferior  to  these  now  mentioned  in 
genius  and  abilities  ;  and  tKeir  works  seemed  less 
calculated  to  promote  the  truth  than  to  render 
their  adversaries  odious. 

Thecontro-      XIII.     The   grand   controversy   between   the 

hveenbthe     Greek  and   Latin    church  was   still  carried    on ; 

Greeks  and  and  all  the  efforts  that  were  made,   during  this 

tinned C0 *~  century,  to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion,  one  wray  or 

another,  proved  ineffectual.  Gregory  IX.  employed 

the  ministry  of  the  Franciscan  monks  to  bring 

about  an  accommodation  with  the   Greeks,  and 


(d)  Echard  et  Quetif  in  Scriptoribus  Ordinis  Prsedicator. 
torn.  1.  sect.  xiii.  p.  106. 

(e)  Bayle's  Dictionary,    at    the   article    Martini. — Pauli 
Colomesii  Hispania  Orient,  p.  209. 

(f)  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  Delect.  Argumentorum  et  Scrip- 
tor,  pro  veritate  Relig.  Christian,  p.  270. 

(g)  Liber  contra  Judseos  et  Paganos. 


CHAP.  in.    The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  257 

pursued  with  zeal  this  laudable  purpose  from  the    SS??"" 
year  1232,  to  the  end  of  his  pontificate,  but  with-  PA"RT  'IL 

out  the  least  appearance  of  success  (Ji).      Inno 

cent  IV.  embarked  in  the  same  undertaking,  in 
the  year  1247,  and  sent  John  of  Parma,  with 
other  Franciscan  friars,  to  Nice  for  the  same 
purpose  ;  while  the  Grecian  pontiff  came  in  person 
to  Rome,  and  was  declared  legate  of  the  Apo- 
stolic see  (z).  But  these  previous  acts  of  mutual 
civility  and  respect,  which  could  not  but  excite 
the  hopes  of  such  as  longed  for  the  conclusion  of 
these  unhappy  discords,  did  not  terminate  in  the 
reconciliation  that  was  expected.  New  incidents 
arose  to  blast  the  influence  of  these  salutary  mea- 
sures, and  the  flame  of  dissension  recovered  new 
vigour.  Under  the  pontificate  of  Urban  IV.  the 
aspect  of  things  changed  for  the  better,  and  the 
negotiations  for  peace  were  renewed  with  such 
success,  as  promised  a  speedy  conclusion  of  these 
unhappy  divisions.  For  Michael  Palaeologus  had 
no  sooner  driven  the  Latins  out  of  Constantinople, 
than  he  sent  ambassadors  to  Rome  to  declare  his 
pacific  intentions,  that  thus  he  might  establish 
his  disputed  dominion,  and  gain  over  the  Roman 
pontiff  to  his  side  (&).  But  during  the  course  of 
these  negotiations,  Urban* s  death  left  matters 
unfinished,  and  suspended,  once  more,  the  hopes 
and  expectations  of  the  public.  Under  the  pon- 
tificate of  Gregory  X.  proposals  of  peace  were 
again  made  by  the  same  emperor,  who,  after  much 
opposition  from  his  own  clergy,  sent  ambassa- 
dors to  the  council  that  was  assembled  at  Lyons 


(h)  See  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  ii.  p.  279.  296.  & 

"  ird  Scriptor.  Ordin.  Praedicator.  toni.  i.  p.  103.  911. — 
Add  to  these  Matth.  Paris,  Histor.  Major,  p.  386. 

(«)  See  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  vii.  p.  370.  388.  393.  397. 
497,  498. — Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iii.  and  iv.  p.  37. 

(k)  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  181.  201.  223. 
269.  303. 

VOL.  in.  s 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  in  the  year  1274  (/)>  and  there,  with  the  solemn 
consent  of  John  Veccus,  patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople,  and  several  Greek  bishops,  publicly  agreed 
to  the  terms  of  accommodation  proposed  by  the 
Roman  pontiff  (ni).  This  re-union,  however,  was 
not  durable  ;  for  the  situation  of  affairs  in  Greece 
and  Italy  being  changed  some  years  after  this 
convention,  and  that  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
deliver  the  former  from  all  apprehensions  of  a 
Latin  invasion,  Andronicus,  the  son  of  Michael, 
assembled  a  council  at  Constantinople,  in  the 
palace  of  Blachernae,  A.  D.  1284,  in  which,  by  a 
solemn  decree,  this  ignominious  treaty  was  de- 
clared entirely  null,  and  the  famous  Veccus,  by 
whose  persuasion  and  authority  it  had  been  con- 
cluded, was  sent  into  exile  (11).  This  resolute 
measure,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  rendered  the 
divisions  more  violent  than  they  had  been  before 
the  treaty  now  mentioned ;  and  it  was  also  fol- 
lowed by  an  open  schism,  and  by  the  most  un- 
happy discords  among  the  Grecian  clergy. 

(/)  See  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  343.  371 .  torn. 
v.  p.  9.  29.  62.— Colonia,  Hist.  Litter,  de  la  Ville  de  Lyon, 
torn.  ii.  p.  284. 

HfejjF  (m)  Joseph,  and  not  Veccus,  was  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, when  this  treaty  was  concluded.  The  former 
had  bound  himself  by  a  solemn  oath  never  to  consent  to  a 
reconciliation  between  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches ;  for 
which  reason  the  emperor,  when  he  sent  his  ambassadors  to 
Lyons,  proposed  to  Joseph  the  following  alternative  '.  that, 
if  they  succeeded  in  bringing  about  an  accommodation,  he 
should  renounce  his  patriarchal  dignity ;  but,  if  they  failed 
in  their  attempt,  he  was  to  remain  patriarch,  advising  him, 
at  the  same  time,  to  retire  to  a  convent,  until  the  matter  was 
decided.  The  ambassador  succeeded,  Joseph  was  deposed, 
and  Veccus  elected  in  his  place ;  when,  and  not  before,  this 
latter  ratified  the  treaty  in  question  by  his  solemn  consent, 
to  the  ignominious  article  of  supremacy  and  pre-eminence, 
which  it  confirmed  to  the  Roman  pontiff. 

(ri)  Leo  Allatiusde  perpetua  ConsensioneEccIes.  Orient. 
et  Occident,  lib.  ii.  c.  xv.  xvi.  p.  727.— Fred.  Spanheim  de 
perpet.  Dissensione  Grsecor.  et  Latin,  torn.  ii.  opp.  p.  488, 
&c. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

'sies  of  a    < 

XIII. 


XIV.  We  pass  over  several  controversies  of  a    CENT. 
more  private  kind,  and  of  inferior  moment,  which  r 

"A  K  F   1 1  • 


have  nothing  in  their  nature  or  circumstances  that 
deserves  the  attention  of  the  curious  ;  but  we  The  dis- 
rnust  not  forget  to  observe  that  the  grand  dispute  Jernfng  "iie 
concerning  the  eucharist  wTas  still  continued  in  presence  of 
this  century,  not  only  in  France,  but  also  in  several  body  in  -Uw 
other  places.  For  though  Innocent  III.  had,  in 
the  council  held  at  the  Lateran,  in  the  year  1215, 
presumptuously  taken  upon  him  to  place  Transub- 
stantiation  among  the  avowed  doctrines  of  the 
Latin  church,  yet  the  authority  of  this  decree  was 
called  in  question  by  many,  and  several  divines 
had  the  courage  to  maintain  the  probability  of  the 
opinions  that  were  opposed  to  that  monstrous 
doctrine.  Those  who,  adopting  the  sentiments 
of  Berenger,  considered  the  bread  and  wine  in  no 
other  light  than  as  signs  or  symbols  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ,  did  not  venture  either  to 
defend  or  profess  this  opinion  in  a  public  manner. 
Many,  also,  thought  it  sufficient  to  acknowledge, 
what  was  termed  a  real  presence,  though  they 
explained  the  manner  of  this  presence  quite  other- 
wise than  the  doctrine  of  Innocent  had  defined 
it  (o).  Among  these,  John,  surnamed  Pungens 
Asinus,  a  subtile  doctor  of  the  university  of  Paris, 
acquired  an  eminent  and  distinguished  name,  and, 
without  incurring  the  censure  of  his  superiors, 
substituted  Consubstantiation  in  the  place  of 
Transubstantiation  towards  the  conclusion  of  this 
century 


(o)  Pet.  Allix.  Praef.  ad  F.  Johannis  Determinat.  de  Sa- 
cramento Aitaris,  published  at  London  in  8vo,  in  the  year 
1686. 

(p)  The  book  of  this  celebrated  doctor  was  published  by 
the  learned  Allix  abovementioned.  See  Baluzli  Vitae  Pontif. 
Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  576.  —  Dacherii  Spicileg.  Veter.  Scriptor. 
torn.  iii.  p.  58.—  Echardi  Scrintores  Dominican?,  torn.  i.  p. 
561. 


260  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Concerning  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  used  in  the 
Church  during  this  Century. 

CENT.        I.  IT  would  be  endless  to  enumerate  the  ad- 
XIIL     ditions  that  were  made  in  this  century  to  the  ex- 

PART  II.  rt     T     •  i    •  • 

ternal  part  of  divine  worship,  in  order  to  increase 

Bites  mui-  its  pomp  and  render* it  more  striking.  These  ad- 
llphed'  ditions  were  owing  partly  to  the  public  edicts  of 
the  Roman  pontiffs,  and  partly  to  the  private  in- 
junctions of  the  Sacerdotal  and  Monastic  orders, 
who  shared  the  veneration  which  was  excited  in 
the  multitude  by  the  splendor  and  magnificence 
of  this  religious  spectacle.  Instead  of  mentioning 
these  additions,  we  shall  only  observe  in  general, 
that  religion  was  now  become  a  sort  of  a  raree- 
show  in  the  hands  of  the  rulers  of  the  church, 
who,  to  render  its  impressions  more  deep  and 
lasting,  thought  proper  to  exhibit  it  in  a  striking 
manner  to  the  external  senses.  For  this  purpose, 
at  certain  stated  times,  and  especially  upon  the 
more  illustrious  festivals,  the  miraculous  dispensa- 
tions of  the  divine  wisdom  in  favour  of  the  church, 
and  the  more  remarkable  events  in  the  Christian 
history,  were  represented  under  certain  allegorical 
figures  and  images,  or  rather  in  a  kind  of  mimic 
show  (</).  But  these  scenic  representations,  in 
which  there  was  a  motley  mixture  of  mirth  and 
gravity,  these  tragi-comical  spectacles,  though  they 
amused  and  affected  in  a  certain  manner  the  gaz- 
ing populace,  were  highly  detrimental,  instead  of 
being  useful,  to  the  cause  of  religion ;  they  de- 
graded its  dignity,  and  furnished  abundant  matter 
of  laughter  to  its  enemies. 

(fj)  It  is  probable  enough,  that  this  licentious  custom  of 
exhibiting  mimic  representations  of  religious  objects,  de- 
rived its  origin  from  the  Mendicant  friars.^ 


CHAP.  iv.       Rites  and  Ceremonies. 

II.  It  will  not  appear  surprising  that  the  bread,    CENT. 
consecrated  in  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
became  the  object  of  religious  worship  ;  for  this 


was  the  natural  consequence  of  the  monstrous  ?he  rites 
doctrine  of  Transubstantiation.  But  the  effects  ^relation 
of  that  impious  and  ridiculous  doctrine  did  not 
end  here  ;  it  produced  all  that  train  of  ceremonies 
and  institutions  that  are  still  used  in  the  church 
of  Rome,  in  honour  of  that  deified  bread,  as  they 
blasphemously  call  it.  Hence  those  rich  and 
splendid  receptacles,  that  were  formed  for  the 
residence  of  God  under  this  new  shape  (r),  and 
the  lamps  and  other  precious  ornaments  that*  were 
designed  to  beautify  this  habitation  of  the  Deity. 
And  hence  the  custom  that  still  prevails  of  carry- 
ing about  this  divine  bread  in  solemn  pomp  through 
the  public  streets,  when  it  is  to  be  administered 
to  sick  or  dying  persons,  with  many  other  cere- 
monies of  a  like  nature,  which  are  dishonourable 
to  religion,  and  opprobrious  to  humanity.  But  that 
which  gave  the  finishing  touch  to  this  heap  of  ab- 
surdities, and  displayed  superstition  in  its  highest 
extravagance,  was  the  institution  of  the  celebrated 
annual  Festival  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  or,  as  it 
is  sometimes  called,  of  the  body  of  Christ,  whose 
origin  was  as  follows  :  a  certain  devout  woman, 
whose  name  was  Juliana,  and  who  lived  at  Liege, 
declared  that  she  had  received  a  revelation  from 

Ifgp0  (r)  This  blasphemous  language,  which  Dr.  Mosheim 
is  obliged  to  use  in  representing  the  absurdities  of  the  doc- 
trine of  Transubstantiation,  is  nothing  in  comparison  with 
the  impious  figures  that  were  made  use  of  by  the  abettors  of 
that  monstrous  tenet  to  accommodate  it,  in  some  measure,  to 
the  capacities  of  the  multitude.  We  need  not  wonder,  that 
the  pagans  metamorphosed  their  Jupiter  into  a  bull,  a  swan, 
and  other  such  figures.,  when  we  see  the  rulers  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  transforming  the  Son  of  God  into  a  piece  of 
bread  ;  a  transformation  so  vile,  and,  even  were  it  not  vile, 
so  useless,  that  it  is  inconceivable  how  it  could  enter  into 
the  head  of  any  mortal,  and  equally  so,  how  the  bishops  of 
Rome  could  confide  so  far  in  the  credulity  of  the  people,  as 
to  risk  their  authority  by  propagating  such  a  doctrine. 


PAR 


262  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  heaven,  intimating  to  her,  that  it  was  the  will 
XIIL  of  God,  that  a  peculiar  festival  should  be  an- 
TI'  nually  observed  in  honour  of  the  holy  sacrament, 
or  rather  of  the  real  presence  of  Christ's  body  in 
that  sacred  institution.  Few  gave  attention  or 
credit  to  this  pretended  vision,  whose  circum- 
stances were  extremely  equivocal  and  absurd  (s), 
and  which  would  have  come  to  nothing,  had  it 
not  been  supported  by  Robert,  bishop  of  Liege, 
who,  in  the  year  1246,  published  an  order  for  the 
celebration  of  this  festival  throughout  the  whole 
province,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  which 
he  knew  would  be  made  to  a  proposal  founded 
only  on  an  idle  dream.  After  the  death  of  Ju- 
liana, one  of  her  friends  and  companions,  whose 
name  was  Eve,  took  up  her  cause  with  uncom- 
mon zeal,  and  had  credit  enough  with  Urban 
IV.  to  engage  him  to  publish,  in  the  year  1264, 
a  solemn  edict,  by  which  the  festival  in  question 
was  imposed  upon  all  the  Christian  churches 
without  exception.  This  edict,  however,  did  not 
produce  its  full  and  proper  effect,  on  account  of 
the  death  of  the  pontiff,  which  happened  soon 
after  its  publication  ;  so  that  the  festival  under 
consideration  was  not  celebrated  universally 
throughout  the  Latin  churches  before  the  pon- 
tificate of  Clement  V.  (7),  who,  in  the  council, 
held  at  Vienne  in  France,  in  the  year  1311,  con- 


(*)  This  fanatical  woman  declared,  that  as  often  as 
she  addressed  herself  to  God,  or  to  the  saints  in  prayer,  she 
saw  the  full  rnoon  with  a  small  defect  or  breach  in  it  ;  and 
that,  having  long  studied  to  find  out  the  signification  of  this 
strange  appearance,  she  was  inwardly  informed  by  the  Spirit, 
that  the  moon  signified  the  church,  and  that  the  defect  or 
breach  was  the  want  of  an  annual  festival  in  honour  of  the 
holy  sacrament. 

(t)  See  Barthol.  Fisen.  Origo  prima  Fest.i  Corporis  Christi 
ex  Viso  Sanctae  Virgini  Julianas  oblate,  published  in  8vo.  at 
Liege,  in  the  year  1  61  9.  —  Dallaeus,  De  Cultus  Religiosi  Object. 
p.  287-  —  Acta  Sanctor.  April,  torn.  i.  p.  437.  903.  —  And 
above  all  Benedict.  Pont,  Max.  de  Festis  Christi  ct  Mariae, 
Jib.  i.  c.  xiii.  p.  36'0.  torn.  x.  6pp. 


CHAP.  iv.       Rites  and  Ceremonies. 

firmed  the  edict  of  Urban,  and  thus,  in  spite  of  CENT. 
all  opposition,  established  a  festival,  which  con- 
tributed  more  to  render  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  agreeable  to  the  people,  than  the  de- 
cree of  the  council  of  the  Lateran  under  Inno- 
cent III.  or  than  all  the  exhortations  of  his  lordly 
successors. 

III.  About  the  conclusion  of  this  century,  Bo- The  year  of 
niface  VIII.  added  to  the  public  rites  and  cere-  iudaeedeto 
monies  of  the  church,  the  famous  jubilee,  which  the  rites  of 
is  still   celebrated  at   Rome,  at  a  stated  period, th 
with  the  utmost  profusion  of  pomp  and  magni- 
ficence.    In  the  year  1299,  a  rumour  was  spread 
abroad   among  the  inhabitants  of  that  city,  that 
all  such  as  visited,  within  the  limits  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  should  ob- 
tain  the   remission   of  all   their    sins,    and    that 
this  privilege  was  to  be  annexed  to  the  perform- 
ance  of  the    same    service    once    every  hundred 
years.      Boniface   no  sooner  heard  of  this  than 
he  ordered  strict  inquiry  to  be  made  concerning 
the  author  and  the  foundation  of  this  report,  and 
the  result  of  this  inquiry  was  answerable  to  his 
views  ;  for  he  was  assured,  by  many  testimonies 
worthy   of  credit  (u\   (say   the    Roman-catholic 

I|§|f  (u)  These  testimonies  worthy  of  credit  have  never 
been  produced  by  the  Romish  writers,  unless  we  rank  in  that 
class,  that  of  an  old  man,  who  had  completed  his  107th  year, 
and  who,  being  brought  before  Boniface  VIII.  declared,  (if 
we  may  believe  the  Abbe  Fleury)  that  his  father,  who  was  a 
common  labourer,  had  assisted  at  the  celebration  of  a  jubilee, 
a  hundred  years  before  that  time.  See  Fleury,  Hist.  Ec- 
cles.  towards  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. — It  is,  however, 
a  very  unaccountable  thing,  if  the  institution  of  the  jubilee 
year  was  not  the  invention  of  Boniface,  that  there  should  be 
neither  in  the  acts  of  councils,  nor  in  the  records  of  history, 
nor  in  the  writings  of  the  learned,  any  trace,  or  the  least 
mention  of  its  celebration  before  the  year  1300;  this,  with 
other  reasons  of  an  irresistible  evidence,  have  persuaded 
some  Roman  catholic  writers  to  consider  the  institution  of 
the  jubilee  year,  as  the  invention  of  this  pontiff,  who,  to  render 
it  more  respectable,  pretended  that  it  was  of  a  much  earlier 


264  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  historians)  that,  from  the  remotest  antiquity,  this 
!!  imPortant  privilege  of  remission  and  indulgence 
1  was  to  be  obtained  by  the  services  abovemen- 
tioned.  No  sooner  had  the  pontiff  received  this 
information  than  he  issued  out  an  epistolary 
mandate,  addressed  to  all  Christians,  in  which  he 
enacted  it  as  a  solemn  law  of  the  church,  that 
those  who,  every  hundredth  or  jubilee  year,  con- 
fessed their  sins,  and  visited,  with  sentiments  of 
contrition  and  repentance,  the  churches  of  St. 
Peter  and  St.  Paul  at  Rome,  should  obtain  thereby 
the  entire  remission  of  their  various  offences  (w). 
The  successors  of  Boniface  were  not  satisfied  with 
adding  a  multitude  of  new  rites  and  inventions, 
by  way  of  ornaments,  to  this  superstitious  insti- 
tution, but,  finding  by  experience  that  it  added 
to  the  lustre,  and  augmented  the  revenues  of  the 
Roman  church,  they  rendered  its  return  more 
frequent,  and  fixed  its  celebration  to  every  five  and 
twentieth  year  (#). 

date.  See  Ghilen.  et  Victorell.  apud  Bonanni  Numism. 
Pontif.  Rom.  torn.  i.  p.  22,  23. 

(to)  So  the  matter  is  related  by  James  Cajetan,  cardinal  of 
St.  George,  and  nephew  to  Boniface,  in  his  Relatio  de  Cente- 
simo  seu  Jubilaeo  anno,  which  is  published  in  his  Magna 
Bibliotheca  Vet.  Patrum,  torn.  vi.  p.  426.  440.  and  in  the 
Bibliotheca  Maxima  Patrum,  torn.  xxv.  p.  267.  Nor  is  there 
any  reason  to  believe  that  his  account  is  erroneous  and 
false,  nor  that  Boniface  acted  the  part  of  an  impostor  from 
a  principle  of  avarice  upon  this  occasion. 

tftij0  N.  B.  It  is  ttttt  without  astonishment,  that  we  hear 
Dr.  Mosheim  deciding  in  this  manner  wi£h  respect  to  the 
good  faith  of  Boniface,  and  the  relation  of  his  nephew.  The 
character  of  that  wicked  and  ambitious  pontiff  is  well  known, 
and  the  relation  of  the  cardinal  of  St.  George  has  been 
proved  to  be  the  most  ridiculous,  fabulous,  motley  piece  of 
stuff  that  ever  usurped  the  title  of  an  historical  record.  See 
the  excellent  Lettres  de  M.  Chais  sur  les  Jubiles  (that  are 
mentioned  more  at  large  in  the  following  note),  torn.  i.  p.  53. 

(<r)  The  various  writers  who  have  treated  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Roman  jubilee,  are  enumerated  by  Jo.  Albert 
Fabricius  in  his  Bibliogr.  Antiquar.  p.  316.  Among  the  au- 
thors that  may  be  added  to  this  list,  there  is  one  whom  we 
think  it  necessary  to  mention  particularly,  viz.  the  Reverend 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  265 


CHAPTER  V. 

Concerning  the  Divisions  and  Heresies  that  trou- 
bled the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  WE  have  no  account  of  any  new  sects  that 
arose   among   the    Greeks    during   this    century.  PARTII. 

Those  of  the  Nestorians   and   Jacobites,    which : — 

were  settled  in  the  remoter  regions  of  the  east,  Nest01 

bites. 

Charles  Chais,  whose  Lettres  Historiques  et  Dogmatiques  sur 
les  Jubiles,  et  des  Indulgences,  were  published  at  the  Hague 
in  three  volumes  8vo.  in  the  year  1751. 

^g°  These  letters  of  Mr.  Chais  (minister  of  the  French 
church  at  the  Hague,  and  well  known  in  the  republic  of  let- 
ters) contain  the  most  full  and  accurate  account  that  has 
been  ever  given  of  the  institution  of  the  jubilee,  and  of  the 
rise,  progress,  abuses,  and  enormities  of  the  infamous  traffic 
of  indulgences.  This  account  is  judiciously  collected  from 
the  best  authors  of  antiquity,  and  from  several  curious  records 
that  have  escaped  the  researches  of  other  writers  ;  it  is  also 
interspersed  with  curious  and  sometimes  ludicrous  anecdotes, 
that  render  the  work  equally  productive  of  entertainment  and 
instruction.  In  the  first  volume  of  these  letters,  the  learned 
author  lays  open  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  institution  of 
the  jubilee;  he  proves  it  to  have  been  a  human  invention, 
which  owed  its  rise  to  the  avarice  and  ambition  of  the  popes, 
and  its  credit  to  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  people, 
and  whose  celebration  was  absolutely  unknown  before  the 
thirteenth  century,  which  is  the  true  date  of  its  origin.  He 
takes  notice  of  the  various  changes  it  underwent  with  respect 
to  the  time  of  its  celebration,  the  various  colours  with  which 
the  ambitious  pontiffs  covered  it  in  order  to  render  it  respect- 
able and  alluring  in  the  eyes  of  the  multitude  ;  and  exposes 
these  illusions  by  many  convincing  arguments  ;  whose  gra- 
vity is  seasoned  with  an  agreeable  and  temperate  mixture  of 
decent  raillery.  He  proves,  with  the  utmost  evidence,  that 
the  papal  jubilee  is  an  imitation  of  the  Secular  Games,  that 
were  celebrated  with  such  pomp  in  pagan  Rome.  He  points 
out  the  gross  contradictions  that  reign  in  the  bulls  of  the  dif- 
ferent popes,  with  respect  to  the  nature  of  this  institution, 
and  the  time  of  its  celebration.  Nor  does  he  pass  over  in 
silence  the  infamous  traffic  of  indulgences,  the  worldly  pomp 
and  splendour,  the  crimes,  debaucheries,  and  disorders  of 
every  kind  that  were  observable  at  the  return  of  each  jubi- 


266  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  and  who  equalled  the  Greeks  in  their  aversion  to 
PART  ii.  tfte  r*tes  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Latin  church, 
were  frequently  solicited,  by  the  ministry  of 
Franciscan  and  Dominican  missionaries  sent 
among  them  by  the  popes,  to  receive  the  Roman 
yoke.  In  the  year  1246,  Innocent  IV.  used  his 
utmost  efforts  to  bring  both  these  sects  under 
his  dominion;  and  in  the  year  1278,  terms  of 
accommodation  were  proposed  by  Nicolas  IV.  to 
the  Nestorians,  and  particularly  to  that  branch  of 
the  sect  which  resided  in  the  northern  parts  of 
Asia  (#).  The  leading  men  both  among  the 
Nestorians  and  Jacobites  seemed  to  give  ear  to 
the  proposals  that  were  made  to  them,  and  were 
by  no  means  averse  to  a  reconciliation  with  the 
church  of  Rome  ;  but  the  prospect  of  peace  soon 
vanished,  and  a  variety  of  causes  concurred  to 
prolong  the  rupture. 

tne  whole  course  of  this  century, 


Roman  pon-  the  Roman  pontiffs  carried  on  the  most  barbarous 
tiffs  with  va-  anc[   inhuman   persecution    against    those   whom 

nous  sects,      ,  -IT-IT          T  •          • 

whom  they  they  branded  with  the  denomination  of  heretics  ; 
dfcCThri-"1"  *•  e*  agamst  a^  those  who  called  their  pretended 
nateiy  with  authority  and  jurisdiction  in  question,  or  taught 
heretics!6  of  doctrines  different  from  those  which  were  adopted 
and  propagated  by  the  church  of  Rome.  For  the 

lee  year.  He  lays  also  before  the  reader  an  historical  view 
of  all  the  jubilees  that  were  celebrated  from  the  pontificate 
of  Boniface  VIII.  in  the  year  1300,  to  that  of  Benedict  XIV. 
in  1750,  with  an  entertaining  account  of  the  most  remarkable 
adventures  that  happened  among  the  pilgrims  who  repaired 
to  Rome  on  these  occasions.  The  second  and  third  volumes 
of  these  interesting  Letters  treat  of  the  indulgences  that  are 
administered  in  the  church  of  Rome.  The  reader  will  find 
here  their  nature  and  origin  explained,  the  doctrine  of  the 
Roman  catholic  divines  relating  to  them  stated  and  refuted, 
the  history  of  this  impious  traffic  accurately  laid  down,  and 
its  enormities  and  pernicious  effects  circumstantially  exposed 
with  learning,  perspicuity,  and  candour. 

(y)  Odor.  Renaldus,  Annal.  Eccles.  torn.  xiii.  ad  a.  124-7, 
sect,  xxxii.  &  torn.  xv.  ad  a.  1303.  sect.  xxii.  &  ad  a.  1304, 
sect,  xxiii.—  Matth.  Paris,  Hist.  Major,  p.  372. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisio?is  and  Heresies.  267 

sects  of  the  Catharists,  Waldenses,  Petrobrussians,    CENT. 
&c.  gathered  strength  from  day  to  day,   spread  p^\lt 

imperceptibly  throughout  all  Europe,  assembled  , 

numerous  congregations  in  Italy,  France,  Spain, 
and  Germany,  and  formed  by  degrees  such  a 
powerful  party,  as  rendered  them  formidable  to 
the  Roman  pontiffs,  and  menaced  the  papal  juris- 
diction with  a  fatal  revolution.  To  the  ancient 
sects  new  factions  were  added,  which,  though 
they  differed  from  each  other  in  various  respects, 
yet  were  all  unanimously  agreed  in  this  one  point, 
viz.  "  That  the  public  and  established  religion 
"  was  a  motley  system  of  errors  and  superstition ; 
"  and  that  the  dominion  which  the  popes  had 
"  usurped  over  Christians,  as  also  the  authority 
"  they  exercised  in  religious  matters,  were  un- 
"  lawful  and  tyrannical."  Such  were  the  notions 
propagated  by  the  sectaries,  who  refuted  the  su- 
perstitions and  impostures  of  the  times  by  argu- 
ments drawn  from  the  holy  scriptures,  and  whose 
declamations  against  the  power,  the  opulence, 
and  the  vices  of  the  pontiffs  and  clergy  were 
extremely  agreeable  to  many  princes  and  civil 
magistrates,  who  groaned  under  the  usurpations 
of  the  sacred  order.  The  pontiffs,  therefore,  con- 
sidered themselves  as  obliged  to  have  recourse  to 
new  and  extraordinary  methods  of  defeating  and 
subduing  enemies,  who,  both  by  their  number  and 
their  rank,  were  every  way  proper  to  fill  them 
with  terror. 

III.  The  number  of  these  dissenters  from  the  T*e  rise  of 
church    of    Rome  was  nowhere   greater  than  injioen 


Narbonne  Gaul  (2),  and  the  countries  adjacent,  bonne  GauL 
where  they  were  received  and  protected  in  a  sin- 
gular manner  by  Raymond  VI.  earl  of  Thoulouse, 
and  other  persons  of  the  highest  distinction ;  and 
where  the  bishops,   either  through  humanity  or 

(z)  That  part  of  France,  which,  in  ancient  times,  compre- 
hended the  provinces  of  Savoy,  Dauphine,  Provence,  and 
Languedoc. 


268  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  indolence,  were  so  negligent  and  remiss  in  the 
xin.  prosecution  of  heretics,  that  the  latter,  laying 
1  aside  all  their  fears,  formed  settlements,  and  mul- 
tiplied prodigiously  from  day  to  day.  Innocent 
III.  was  soon  informed  of  all  these  proceedings  ; 
and  about  the  commencement  of  this  century,  sent 
legates  extraordinary  into  the  southern  provinces 
of  France,  to  do  what  the  bishops  had  left  undone, 
and  to  extiqmte  heresy,  in  all  its  various  forms 
and  modifications,  without  being  at  all  scrupulous 
in  using  such  methods  as  might  be  necessary  to 
effect  this  salutary  purpose.  The  persons  charged 
with  this  ghostly  commission  were  Rainier  (#), 
a  Cistertian  monk,  Pierre  de  Castelnau  (Z>),  arch- 
deacon of  Maguelone,  who  became  also  afterwards 
a  Cistertian  friar.  These  eminent  missionaries 
were  followed  by  several  others,  among  whom  was 
the  famous  Spaniard  Dominic,  founder  of  the 
order  of  preachers,  who,  returning  from  Rome 
in  the  year  1206,  fell  in  with  these  delegates, 
embarked  in  their  cause,  and  laboured  both  by 
his  exhortations  and  actions  in  the  extirpation  of 
heresy.  These  spiritual  champions,  who  engaged 
in  this  expedition  upon  the  sole  authority  of  the 
pope,  without  either  asking  the  advice,  or  demand- 
ing the  succours  of  the  bishops,  and  who  inflicted 
capital  punishment  upon  such  of  the  heretics  as 
they  could  not  convert  by  reason  and  argument, 
were  distinguished  in  common  discourse  by  the 
title  of  Inquisitors,  and  from  them  the  formida- 
ble and  odious  tribunal  called  the  Inquisition, 
derived  its  original. 

[fgg0  (a)  Instead  of  Rainier,  other  historians  mention  one 
Raoul,  or  Ralph,  as  the  associate  of  Pierre  de  Castelnau. 
See  Fleury,  Histoire  Ecsles.  livr.  Ixxvi.  sect.  xii. 

(b)  The  greatest  part  of  the  Roman  writers  consider 
Pierre  de  Castelnau  as  the  first  inquisitor.  It  will  appear 
hereafter  in  what  sense  this  assertion  may  be  admitted. 
For  an  account  of  this  legate,  see  the  Acta  Sauctor.  torn.  i. 
Martii,  p.  41 1. 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  269 

IV.  When  this  new  set  of  heresy-hunters  (c)    CENT. 

XIII. 
PART   II. 


The 


had  executed  their  commission,  and  purged  the 
provinces  to  which  they  were  sent  of  the  greatest 
part  of  the  enemies  of  the  Roman  faith,  the  pon- 
tiffs  were  so  sensible  of  their  excellent  services,  -quisiti<m 
that  they  established  missionaries  of  a  like  nature,  settled. 
or,  in  other  words,  placed  Inquisitors  in  almost 
every  city  whose  inhabitants  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  suspected  of  heresy,  notwithstanding  the 
reluctance  which  the  people  showed  to  this  new 
institution,  and  the  violence  with  which  they 
frequently  expelled,  and  sometimes  massacred, 
these  bloody  officers  of  the  popish  hierarchy. 
The  council  held  at  Thoulouse,  in  the  year  1229? 
by  Romanus,  cardinal  of  St.  Angelo,  and  pope's 
legate,  went  still  farther,  and  erected  in  every  city 
a  council  of  inquisitors,  consisting  of  one  priest, 
and  three  laymen  (oQ.  This  institution  was,  how- 
ever, superseded,  in  the  year  1233,  by  Gregory 
IX.  who  intrusted  the  Dominicans,  or  preaching 
friars,  with  the  important  commission  of  discover- 
ing and  bringing  to  judgment  the  heretics  that 
were  lurking  in  France,  and  in  a  former  epistle 
discharged  the  bishops  from  the  burthen  of  that 
painful  office  (e).  Immediately  after  this,  the 
bishop  of  Tournay,  who  was  the  pope's  legate  in 
France,  began  to  execute  this  new  resolution, 
by  appointing  Pierre  Cellan,  and  Guillaume 

Ijgf3  (c)  The  term  of  Heresy-hunters,  for  which  the  trans- 
lator is  responsible,  will  not  seem  absurd,  when  it  is  known, 
that  the  missionaries,  who  were  sent  into  the  provinces  of 
France  to  extirpate  heresy,  and  the  inquisitors  who  succeeded 
them,  were  bound  by  an  oath,  not  only  to  seek  for  the  here- 
tics in  towns,  houses,  cellars,  and  other  lurking  places,  but 
also  in  woods,  caves,  fields,  &c. 

(d)  See  Harduini  Concilia,  torn.  vii.  p.  175. 

(e)  Bernhard  Guidonis  in  Chronico  Pontif.  MS.  ap.  Jac. 
Echardum  Scriptor.  Praedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  88.  —  Percini  His- 
toria  Inquisit.  Tholosanae,  subjoined  to  his  HistoriaConventus 
FF.  Praedicat.  Tolosae,  1693,  in  8vo.  —  Histoire  Generale  de 
Languedoc,  torn.  iii.  p.  394,  395. 


270  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    Arnaud,  inquisitors  of  heretical  pravity  at  Thou- 
XIIL     louse,  and  afterwards  proceeded  in  every  city,  where 

^ '_  the  Dominicans  had  a  convent,  to  constitute  officers 

of  the  same  nature,  chosen  from  among  the  monks 
of  that  celebrated  order  (f).  From  this  period 
we  are  to  date  the  commencement  of  the  dreadful 
tribunal  of  the  inquisition,  which  in  this  and  the 
following  ages  subdued  such  a  prodigious  multi- 
tude of  heretics,  part  of  whom  were  converted 
to  the  church  by  terror,  and  the  rest  committed 
to  the  flames  without  mercy.  For  the  Dominicans 
erected,  first  at  Thoulouse,  and  afterwards  at  Car- 
cassone,  and  other  places,  a  tremendous  court, 
before  which  were  summoned  not  only  heretics 
and  persons  suspected  of  heresy,  but  likewise  all 
who  were  accused  of  magic,  sorcery,  Judaism, 
witchcraft,  and  other  crimes  of  that  kind.  This 
tribunal,  in  process  of  time,  was  erected  in  the 
other  countries  of  Europe,  though  not  every  where 
with  the  same  success  (g*). 

(/)   Echard  and  Percinus,  loc.  citat. 

(g)  The  accounts  we  have  here  given  of  the  first  rise  of  the 
Inquisition,  though  founded  upon  the  most  unexceptionable 
testimonies  and  the  most  authentic  records,  are  yet  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  that  are  to  be  found  in  most  authors.  Cer- 
tain learned  men  tell  us,  that  the  Tribunal  of  the  Inquisition 
was  the  invention  of  St.  Dominic,  and  was  first  erected  by 
him  in  the  city  of  Thoulouse  :  that  he,  of  consequence,  was 
the  first  inquisitor  :  that  the  year  of  its  institution  is  indeed 
uncertain  ;  but  that  it  was  undoubtedly  confirmed  in  a  solemn 
manner,  by  Innocent  III.  in  the  council  of  the  Lateran,  in 
the  year  1215.  See  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  in  his  Lux  Evangelii 
toti  orbi  exoriens,  p.  .569. — Phil.  Lirnborchi  Historia  Inqui- 
sit.  lib.  i.  c.  x.  p.  39.  and  the  other  writers  mentioned  by  Fa- 
bricius. I  will  not  affirm,  that  the  writers  who  give  this 
account  of  the  matter  have  advanced  all  this  without  autho- 
rity;  but  this  I  will  venture  to  say,  that  the  authors,  whom 
they  have  taken  for  their  guides,  are  not  of  the  first  rate  in 
point  of  merit  and  credibility.  Limborch,  whose  History  of 
the  Inquisition  is  looked  upon  as  a  most  important  and  capital 
work,  is  generally  followed  by  modern  writers  in  their 
accounts  of  that  odious  tribunal.  But,  however  laudable  that 
historian  may  have  been  in  point  of  fidelity  and  diligence, 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies. 

V.  The  method  of  proceeding  in  this  court  of   CENT. 
inquisition  was  at  first  simple,  and  almost  in  every     XIIL 

.,  ,  i  •  T  i        PART  n. 

respect  similar  to  that  which  was  observed  in  the . 

ordinary  courts  of  justice  (//.).  But  this  simplicity 
was  gradually  changed  by  the  Dominicans,  to 
whom  experience  suggested  several  new  methods 
of  augmenting  the  pomp  and  majesty  of  their 
spiritual  tribunal,  and  who  made  such  alterations 

it  is  certain,  that  he  was  but  little  acquainted  with  the  eccle- 
siastical history  of  the  middle  age ;  that  he  drew  his  mate- 
rials, not  from  the  true  and  original  sources,  but  from  writers 
of  a  second  class,  and  thus  has  fallen,  in  the  course  of  his 
history,  into  various  mistakes.  His  account  of  the  origin  of 
the  inquisition  is  undoubtedly  false  :  nor  does  that  which  is 
given  by  many  other  writers  approach  nearer  to  the  truth. 
The  circumstances  of  this  account,  which  I  have  mentioned 
in  the  beginning  of  this  note,  are  more  especially  destitute 
of  all  foundation.  Many  of  the  Dominicans,  who,  in  our 
times,  have  presided  in  the  court  of  inquisition,  and  have 
extolled  the  sanctity  of  that  pious  institution,  deny,  at  the 
same  time,  that  Dominic  was  its  founder,  as  also  that  he 
was  the  first  inquisitor,  nay,  that  he  was  an  inquisitor  at  all. 
They  go  still  farther,  and  affirm,  that  the  court  of  inquisition 
was  not  erected  during  the  life  of  St.  Dominic.  Nor  is  all 
this  advanced  inconsiderately,  as  every  impartial  inquirer  into 
the  proofs  they  allege  will  easily  perceive.  Nevertheless,  the 
question,  Whether  or  not  St.  Dominic  was  an  inquisitor  ? 
seems  to  be  merely  a  dispute  about  words,  and  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  different  significations  of  which  the  term 
inquisitor  is  susceptible.  That  word,  according  to  its  original 
meaning,  signified  a  person  invested  with  the  commission  and 
authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff  to  extirpate  heresy  and  oppose 
its  abettors,  but  not  clothed  with  any  judicial  power.  But  it 
soon  acquired  a  different  meaning,  and  signified  a  person 
appointed  by  the  Roman  pontiff  to  proceed  judicially  against 
heretics  and  such  as  were  suspected  of  heresy,  to  pronounce 
sentence  according  to  their  respective  cases,  and  to  deliver 
over  to  the  secular  arm  such  as  persisted  obstinately  in  their 
errors.  In  this  latter  sense  Dominic  was  not  an  inquisitor; 
since  it  is  well  known  that  there  were  no  papal  judges  of  this 
nature  before  the  pontificate  of  Gregory  IX.  but  he  was 
undoubtedly  an  inquisitor  in  the  original  sense  that  was 
attached  to  that  term. 

(k)  The  records,  published  by  the  Benedictines  in  their 
Histoire  Gener.  de  Languedoc,  torn,  iii.  p.  371.  show  the  sim- 
plicity that  reigned  in  the  proceedings  of  the  inquisition  at 
its  first  institution. 


272  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    in  the  forms  of  proceeding,  that  the  manner  of 

PART  II. 


1     taking  cognizance  of  heretical  causes  became  to- 


tally different  from  that  which  was  usual  in  civil 
affairs.  These  friars  were,  to  say  the  truth,  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  judicial  matters  ;  nor  were  they 
acquainted  with  the  procedures  of  any  other  tri- 
bunal, than  that  which  was  called,  in  the  Roman 
church,  the  Tribunal  of  Penance.  It  was,  there- 
fore, after  this,  that  they  modelled  the  new  court 
of  Inquisition,  as  far  as  a  resemblance  between  the 
two  was  possible  ;  and  hence  arose  that  strange 
system  of  inquisitorial  law,  which,  in  many  respects, 
is  so  contrary  to  the  common  feelings  of  humani- 
ty, and  the  plainest  dictates  of  equity  and  justice. 
This  is  the  important  circumstance  by  which  we 
are  enabled  to  account  for  the  absurd,  imprudent, 
and  iniquitous  proceedings  of  the  inquisitors, 
against  persons  that  are  accused  of  holding,  what 
they  call,  heretical  opinions. 

The  rights  VI.  That  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  render 
kgdesPgrVant-  ^s  spiritual  court  formidable  and  tremendous, 
ed  to  the  in- the  Roman  pontiffs  persuaded  the  European 
lon*  princes,  and  more  especially  the  emperor  Fre- 
deric II.  and  Lewis  IX.  king  of  France,  not  only 
to  enact  the  most  barbarous  laws  against  heretics, 
and  to  commit  to  the  flames,  by  the  ministry 
of  public  justice,  those  who  were  pronounced 
such  by  the  inquisitors,  but  also  to  maintain 
the  inquisitors  in  their  office,  and  grant  them 
their  protection  in  the  most  open  and  solemn 
manner.  The  edicts  to  this  purpose  issued  out  by 
Frederic  II.  are  well  known ;  edicts  every  way 
proper  to  excite  horror,  and  which  rendered  the 
most  illustrious  piety  and  virtue  incapable  of 
saving  from  the  cruellest  death  such  as  had  the 
misfortune  to  be  disagreeable  to  the  inquisi- 
tors (t).  These  abominable  laws  were  not,  how- 

(i)   The  law  of  the  emperor  Frederic,  in  relation,  to  the 
inquisitors,  may  be  seen  in  Limborch's  History  of  the  Inquisi- 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  273 

ever,  sufficient  to  restrain  the  just  indignation  of  CENT. 
the  people  against  these  inhuman  judges,  whose 
barbarity  was  accompanied  with  superstition  and 
arrogance,  with  a  spirit  of  suspicion  and  perfidy, 
nay,  even  with  temerity  and  imprudence.  Ac- 
cordingly they  were  insulted  by  the  multitude 
in  many  places,  were  driven,  in  an  ignominious 
manner,  out  of  some  cities,  and  were  put  to  death 
in  others  ;  and  Conrad,  of  Marpurg,  the  first 
German  inquisitor,  who  derived  his  commission 
from  Gregory  IX.  was  one  of  the  many  victims 
that  were  sacrificed  upon  this  occasion  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  public  (A:),  which  his  incredible 
barbarities  had  raised  to  a  dreadful  degree  of  ve- 
hemence and  fury  (/). 

tion,  as  also  in  the  Epistles  of  Pierre  de  Vignes,  and  in 
Bzovius  Raynaldus,  &c.  The  edict  of  St.  Lewis,  in  favour 
of  these  ghostly  judges,  is  generally  known  under  the  title 
of  Cupientes;  for  so  it  is  called  by  the  French  lawyers  on 
account  of  its  beginning  with  that  word.  It  was  issued  out 
in  the  year  1229,  as  the  Benedictine  monks  have  proved 
sufficiently  in  their  Hist.  Generate  de  Languedoc,  torn.  iii. 
p.  378.  575.  It  is  also  published  by  Catelius,  in  his  Histor. 
Comit.  Tolosanor.  p.  340.  and  in  many  other  authors.  This 
edict  is  as  severe  and  inhuman,  to  the  full,  as  the  laws  of 
Frederic  II.  For  a  great  part  of  the  sanctity  of  good  king 
Lewis  consisted  in  his  furious  and  implacable  aversion  to 
heretics,  against  whom  he  judged  it  more  expedient  to  em- 
ploy the  influence  of  racks  and  gibbets,  than  the  power  of 
reason  and  argument.  See  Du  Fresne,  Vita  Ludovici  a 
Joinvillio  scripta,  p.  11.  39. 

(£)  The  life  of  this  furious  and  celebrated  inquisitor  has 
been  composed  from  the  most  authentic  records  that  are 
extant,  and  also  from  several  valuable  manuscripts  by  the 
learned  John  Herman  Schminkius.  See  also  Wadding. 
Annal.  Minor,  torn.  ii.  p.  151.  355.  &  Echard.  Scriptor.  Do- 
minican, torn.  i.  p.  487« 

Ugl0  (/)  The  Abbe  Fleury  acknowledges  the  brutal  bar- 
barity of  this  unrelenting  inquisitor,  who,  under  the  pretext 
of  heresy,  not  only  committed  to  the  flames  a  prodigious 
number  of  nobles,  clerks,  monks,  hermits,  and  lay-persons 
of  all  ranks,  but  moreover  caused  them  to  be  put  to  death, 
the  very  same  day  they  were  accused,  without  appeal .  See 
Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  livr.  Ixxx,  sect.  xxiv. 

VOL.  III.  T 


274  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        VII.    When  Innocent   III.  perceived  that  the 
P^TII   lab°urs  of  the  first  inquisitors  were  not  immediately 

„ 1  attended    with    such    abundant  fruits  as  he  had 

Severer  me-  fondly  expected,  he  addressed  himself,  in  the  year 
employed  1207,  to  Philip  Augustus,  king  of  France,  and  to 
against  the  the  leading  men  of  that  nation,  soliciting  them, 
by  the  alluring  promise  of  the  most  ample  indul- 
gences, to  extirpate  all  whom  he  thought  proper 
to  call  heretics,  by  fire  and  sword  (ni).  This  ex- 
hortation was  repeated  with  new  accessions  of 
fervour  and  earnestness  the  year  following,  when 
Pierre  de  Castelnau,  the  legate  of  this  pontiff, 
and  his  inquisitor  in  France,  was  put  to  death  by 
the  patrons  of  the  people,  called  heretics  (72). 
Not  long  after  this,  the  Cistertian  monks,  in  the 
name  of  this  pope,  proclaimed  a  crusade  against 
the  heretics  throughout  the  whole  kingdom  of 
France,  and  a  storm  seemed  to  be  gathering 
against  them  on  all  sides,  Raymond  VI.  earl 
of  Thoulouse,  in  whose  territories  Castelnau  had 
been  massacred,  was  solemnly  excommunicated, 
and  to  deliver  himself  from  this  ecclesiastical 
malediction,  changed  sides,  and  embarked  in  the 
crusade  now  mentioned.  In  the  year  1209,  a 
formidable  army  of  cross-bearers  commenced 
against  the  heretics,  who  were  comprehended 
under  the  general  denomination  of  Albigenses  (o), 


(m)  Innocentii  III.  Epistolae,  Lib.  x.  Epist.  4-9. 

(fi)    Id.  ibid.  Lib.  xi.  Ep.  26,  27,  28,  29.— Acta  Sanctor. 
Mart.  torn.  i.  p.  411. 

(o)  The  term  Albigenses  is  used  in  two  senses,  of  which 
the  one  is  general,  and  the  other  more  confined.  In  its 
more  general  and  extensive  sense  it  comprehends  all  the 
various  kindsjof  heretics  who  resided  at  this  time  in  Nar- 
bonne-GauI,  .  e.  in  the  southern  parts  of  France.  This 
appears  from  the  following  passage  of  Petrus  Sarnensis, 
who,  in  the  Dedication  of  his  History  of  the  Albigenses  to 
Innocent  III.  expresses  himself  thus :  Tolosani  et  aliarum 
civitatum,  et  castrorum  hseretici,  et  defensores  eorum  gene- 
raliter  Albigenses  vocantur.  The  same  author  divides 
wards  the  Albigenses  into  various  sects  (Cap.  ii.  p.  3.  &  8.) 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  275 

an  open  war  which  they  carried  on  with  the  CENT. 
utmost  exertions  of  cruelty,  though  with  various 
success  for  several  years.  The  chief  director  of 
this  ghostly  war  was  Arnald,  abbot  of  the  Cis- 
tertians,  and  legate  of  the  Roman  pontiff;  and 
the  commander  in  chief  of  the  troops  employed 
in  this  noble  expedition  was  Simon,  earl  of  Mont- 
ford.  Raymond  VI.  earl  of  Thoulouse,  who,  con- 
sulting his  safety  rather  than  his  conscience,  was 
engaged  in  the  crusade  against  the  heretics,  had 
obliged  to  change  sides,  and  to  attack  their  per- 
secutors. For  Simon,  who  had  embarked  in  this 
war,  not  so  much  from  a  principle  of  zeal  for  reli- 
gion, or  of  aversion  to  the  heretics,  as  from  a 
desire  of  augmenting  his  fortune,  cast  a  greedy 
eye  upon  the  territories  of  Raymond,  and  his 
selfish  views  were  seconded  and  accomplished  by 
the  court  of  Rome.  After  many  battles,  sieges, 
and  a  multitude  of  other  exploits  conducted  with 
the  most  intrepid  courage  and  the  most  abomi- 
nable barbarity,  he  received  from  the  hands  of  In- 
nocent III.  at  the  council  of  Lateran,  A.  D.  1215, 
the  county  of  Thoulouse  and  the  other  lands,  be- 

of  which  he  considers  that  of  the  Waldenses  as  the  least 
pernicious.  Mali  erant  Waldenses,  sed  comparatione  alio- 
rum  haereticorum  longe  minus  perversi.  It  was  not,  how- 
ever, from  the  city  of  Albigia,  or  Albi,  that  the  French 
heretics  were  comprehended  under  the  general  title  of  Albi- 
genses,  but  from  another  circumstance,  to  wit,  that  the 
greatest  part  of  Narbonne-Gaul  was,  in  this  century,  called 
Albigensium,  as  the  Benedictine  monks  have  clearly  demon- 
strated in  their  Histoire  Generate  de  Languedoc,  torn.  iii. 
nof  xiii.  p.  552.  The  term  Albigenses,  in  its  more  confined 
sense,  was  used  to  denote  those  heretics  who  inclined  to- 
wards the  Manichaean  system,  and  who  were  otherwise 
known  by  the  denominations  of  Catharists,  Publicans,  or 
Paulicians,  and  Bulgarians.  This  appears  evidently  from 
many  incontestable  authorities,  and  more  especially  from 
the  Codex  Inquisitionis  Tolosanse,  published  by  Limborch, 
in  his  History  of  the  Inquisition,  and  in  which  the  Albi- 
genses are  carefully  distinguished  from  the  other  sects  that 
made  a  noise  in  this  century. 

T  2 


276  The  Internal  History  of  Ike  Church. 

CENT,  longing  to  that  earl,  as  a  reward  for  his  zeal  in 
supporting  the  cause  of  God  and  of  the  church. 
About  three  years  after  this,  he  lost  his  life  at  the 
siege  of  Thoulouse.  Raymond,  his  valiant  adver- 
sary, died  in  the  year  1222. 

VIII.    Thus  were  the  two  chiefs  of  this  de- 


ton  made"  plorable  war  taken  off  the  scene  ;    but  this  re- 
by  the  earl  of  moval  was  far  from    extinguishing  the   infernal 

Thoulouse     n  ,  .  i-i^i  '/v> 

to  the  RO-  name  01  persecution  on  the  side  of  the  pontiffs, 
man  pontiff.  or  calming  the  restless  spirit  of  faction  on  that  of 
the  pretended  heretics.  Raymond  VII.  earl  of 
Thoulouse,  and  Amalric,  earl  of  Montford,  suc- 
ceeded their  fathers  at  the  head  of  the  contending 
parties,  and  carried  on  the  war  with  the  utmost 
vehemence,  and  with  such  various  success  as  ren- 
dered the  issue  for  some  time  doubtful.  The 
former  seemed  at  first  more  powerful  than  his  ad- 
versary, and  the  Roman  pontiff  Honorius  III. 
alarmed  at  the  vigorous  opposition  he  made  to  the 
orthodox  legions,  engaged  Lewis  VIII.  king  of 
France,  by  the  most  pompous  promises,  to  march 
in  person  with  a  formidable  army  against  the 
enemies  of  the  church.  The  obsequious  monarch 
listened  to  the  solicitations  of  the  lordly  pontiff, 
and  embarked  with  a  considerable  military  force  in 
the  cause  of  the  church,  but  did  not  live  to  reap 
the  fruits  of  his  zeal.  His  engagements,  however, 
with  the  court  of  Rome,  and  his  furious  designs 
against  the  heretics,  were  executed  with  the  greatest 
alacrity  and  vigour  by  his  son  and  successor  Lewis 
the  Saint  ;  so  that  Raymond,  pressed  on  all  sides, 
was  obliged,  in  the  year  12£9,  to  make  peace  upon 
the  most  disadvantageous  terms,  even  by  making 
a  cession  of  the  greatest  part  of  his  territories 
to  the  French  monarch,  after  having  sacri- 
ficed a  considerable  portion  of  them,  as  a  peace- 
offering  to  the  church  of  Rome  (jy).  This  treaty 


(p)  It  was  in  consequence  of  this  treaty  (of  which  the 
articles  were  dra\vn  up  at  Meaux,  and  afterwards  confirmed  at 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  277 

of  peace  gave  a  mortal  blow  to  the  cause  of  heresy,  CENT. 
and  dispersed  the  champions  that  had  appeared 
in  its  defence.  The  inquisition  was  established  at 
Thoulouse,  and  the  heretics  were  not  only  exposed 
to  the  pious  cruelties  of  Lewis,  but,  what  was 
still  more  shocking,  Raymond  himself,  who  had 
formerly  been  their  patron,  became  their  perse- 
cutor, and  treated  them  upon  all  occasions  with  the 
most  inhuman  severity.  It  is  true,  this  prince 
broke  the  engagements  into  which  he  had  entered 
by  the  treaty  above  mentioned,  and  renewed  the 
war  against  Lewis  and  the  inquisitors,  who  abused 
their  victory  and  the  power  they  had  acquired  in 
the  most  odious  manner.  But  this  new  effort  in 
favour  of  the  heretics  was  attended  with  little  or 
no  effect ;  and  the  unfortunate  earl  of  Thoulouse, 
the  last  representative  of  that  noble  and  powerful 
house,  dejected  and  exhausted  by  the  losses  he  had 
sustained,  and  the  perplexities  in  which  he  was 
involved,  died,  in  the  year  1249,  without  male 
issue.  And  thus  ended  a  civil  war,  of  which  reli- 
gion had  been  partly  the  cause,  and  partly  the  pre- 
text, and  which  in  its  consequences  was  highly 
profitable  both  to  the  kings  of  France  and  to  the 
Roman  pontiffs  (</). 

Paris,  in  presence  of  Lewis)  that  the  university  of  Thoulouse 
was  founded,  Raymond  having  hound  himself  thereby  to  pay 
the  sum  of  4000  silver  marcs,  in  order  to  the  support  of  two 
professors  of  divinity,  two  of  canon  law,  two  of  grammar,  and 
six  of  the  liberal  arts  during  the  space  often  years.  We 
must  also  observe,  that  what  Dr.  Mosheim  say  of  the  cession 
that  Raymond  made  of  his  lands  is  not  sufficiently  clear  and 
accurate.  These  lands  were  not  to  be  transferred  till  after 
his  death,  and  they  were  to  be  transferred  to  the  brother  of 
Lewis  IX.  who,  according  to  the  treaty,  was  to  espouse  the 
daughter  of  Raymond.  See  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  liv.  Ixxix. 
sect.  50. 

(</)  Many  writers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  have  related 
the  circumstances  of  this  religious  war,  that  was  carried  on 
against  the  earls  of  Thoulouse  and  their  confederates,  and  also 
against  the  heretics,  whose  cause  they  maintained.  But  none 
of  the  historians,  whom  I  have  consulted  on  this  subject,  have 


278  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church.. 

CENT.  IX.  The  severity  which  the  court  of  Rome  em- 
ployed  in  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  and  the  for- 
midable  arguments  of  fire  and  sword,  racks  and 


The  Bre-  gibbets,  with  which  the  popes  and  their  creatures 
sisters  of  reasoned  against  the  enemies  of  the  church,  were 
the  Free  not  sufficient  to  prevent  the  rise  of  new  and 
most  pernicious  sects  in  several  places.  Many  of 
these  sects  were  inconsiderable  in  themselves,  and 
transitory  in  their  duration,  while  some  of  them 
made  a  noise  in  the  world,  and  were  suppressed 
with  difficulty.  Among  the  latter,  we  may  reckon' 
that  of  the  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit, 
which  about  this  time  gained  ground  secretly 
and  imperceptibly  in  Italy,  France,  and  Ger- 
many, and  seduced  into  its  bosom  multitudes  of 
persons  of  both  sexes,  by  the  striking  appearance 
of  piety  that  was  observed  in  the  conduct  of  the 
members  that  composed  it.  How  far  the  councils 
of  this  century  proceeded  against  this  new  sect,  we 

treated  it  with  that  impartiality  which  is  so  essential  to  the 
merit  of  historical  writing.  The  protestant  writers,  among 
whom  Basnage  deserves  an  eminent  rank,  are  too  favourable 
to  Raymond  and  the  Albigenses;  the  Roman  catholic  histo- 
rians lean  with  still  more  partiality  to  the  other  side.  Of 
these  latter,  the  most  recent  are  Benedict,  a  Dominican 
monk,,  author  of  the  Histoire  des  Albigeois,  des  Vaudois,  et  de 
Barbets,  published  at  Paris,  in  1691,  in  two  volumes  12mo. 
—  J.  Bapt.  Langlois,  a  Jesuit,  who  composed  the  Histoire  des 
Croisades  contreles  Albigeois,  which  was  published  in  12mo. 
at  Rouen,  in  1703,  to  which  we  must  add,  Jo.  Jac.  Percini, 
Monumenta  Conventus  Tolosani  Ordinis  FF.  Prsedicator.  in 
quibus  Historia  hujus  Conventus  distribuitur,  et  refertur  totius 
Albigensium  facti  narratio,  Tolosae,  1693,  fol.  These  writers 
are  chargeable  with  the  greatest  partiality  and  injustice  in 
the  reproaches  and  calumnies  they  throw  out  so  liberally 
against  the  Raymonds  and  the  Albigenses,  while  they  disguise, 
with  a  perfidious  dexterity,  the  barbarity  of  Simon  of  Mont- 
fort,  and  the  ambitious  views  of  extending  their  dominions 
that  engaged  the  kings  of  France  to  enter  into  this  war.  The 
most  ample  and  accurate  account  of  this  expedition  against 
the  heretics  is  that  which  is  given  by  the  learned  Benedictines 
Claude  le  Vic  and  Joseph  Vaissette,  in  their  Histoire  Generale 
•de  Languecloc,  Paris,  1730,  torn.  iii.  in  which,  however,  there 
are  several  omissions,  which  render  that  valuable  work  de- 
fective. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  279 

cannot  say  with  any  certainty  ;  because  we  have    CENT. 
upon  record  but  a  few  of  the  decrees  that  were     xni 
issued  out  upon  that  occasion.    Perhaps  the  obscu-  PART  "' 
rity  of  the  rising  factions  skreened  it,  in  a  great 
measure,  from  public  view.     But  this  was  not  the 
case  in  the  following  age  ;  the  Brethren  and  Sis- 
ters   above    mentioned    came    forth    from    their 
retreats  in  proportion  as  their  numbers  increased ; 
they  drew  upon  them  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and 
particularly   those  of    the  inquisitors,  who  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  such  of  these  unhappy  enthu- 
siasts as  fell  into  their  hands ;  while  the  coun- 
cils, held  in  Germany  and  other  nations,  loaded 
them    with     excommunications    and    damnatory 
edicts. 

This  new  sect  took  their  denomination  from 
the  words  of  St.  Paul  (r),  and  maintained  that 
the  true  children  of  God  were  invested  with  the 
privilege  of  a  full  and  perfect  freedom  from  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  law  (s).  They  were  called, 
by  the  Germans  and  Flemish,  Beghards  and  Be- 
guttes,  which,  as  we  have  seen  already,  was  a 
name  usually  given  to  those  who  made  an  extra- 
ordinary profession  of  piety  and  devotion.  They 

(r)  Romans  viii.  2. 14-. 

(s)  The  accounts  we  here  give  of  these  wretched  fanatics 
are,  for  the  most  part,  taken  from  authentic  records,  which 
have  not  been  as  yet  published,  from  the  decrees  of  synods 
and  councils  held  in  France  and  Germany,  from  the  diplomas 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  the  sentences  pronounced  by  the  in- 
quisitors, and  the  other  sources  of  information  to  which  I 
have  had  access.  I  have  also  a  collection  of  extracts  from 
certain  books  of  these  enthusiasts,  and  more  especially  from 
that  which  treated  of  the  Nine  Spiritual  Rocks,  and  which 
was  in  the  highest  esteem  among  the  Free  Brethren,  who  con- 
sidered it  as  a  treasure  of  divine  wisdom  and  doctrine.  As  I 
cannot  expose  here  these  records  to  the  examination  of  the 
curious  reader,  I  beg  leave  to  refer  him  to  a  long  and  ample 
edict  issued  out  against  these  brethren  by  Henry  I.  archbi  > 
of  Cologn,  and  published  in  the  Statuta  Coloniensia,  A.  1 

.     This  edict  is,  in  every  respect,  conformable  to  those 
:d  on  the  samf3  occasion,  at  T/lentz,  Aschafteaburg, 
Paderborri,  Beziers,  Triers,  and  other  places. 


280  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    received  from  others,  the  reproachful  denomina- 
i-Airr  ii  ^on  °^   Bicorni,   i.  e.   Idiots.      In   France   they 

.'were  known  by  the  appellation  of  Beghins  and 

Beghines,  while  the  multitude  distinguished  them 
by  that  of  Turlupins,  the  origin  and  reason  of 
which  title  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  (£).  No- 
thing carried  a  more  shocking  air  of  lunacy  and 
distraction  than  their  external  aspect  and  man- 
ners. They  ran  from  place  to  place  clothed  in 
the  most  singular  and  fantastic  apparel,  and  begged 
their  bread  with  wild  shouts  and  clamours,  re- 
jecting with  horror  every  kind  of  industry  and 
labour,  as  an  obstacle  to  divine  contemplation, 
and  to  the  ascent  of  the  soul  towards  the  Father 
of  spirits.  In  all  their  excursions  they  were  fol- 
lowed by  women,  with  whom  they  lived  in  the 
most  intimate  familiarity  (?/).  They  distributed 
among  the  people  books  which  contained  the  sub- 
stance of  their  doctrine,  held  nocturnal  assemblies 
in  places  remote  from  public  view,  and  seduced 
many  from  frequenting  the  ordinary  institutions 
of  divine  worship. 

The  mysti-       X.  These  brethren,  who  gloried  in  the  freedom 

trSnes  of     wmcn  they  pretended  to  have  obtained,  through 

this  sect,     the  spirit,  from  the  dominion  and  obligation  of 

the   law,    adopted   a   certain  rigid   and  fantastic 

system  of  mystic  theology,  built  upon  pretended 

philosophical  principles,  which  carried  a  striking 

resemblance    of   the    impious    doctrines    of   the 

(t)  Many  have  written,  but  none  with  accuracy  and  preci- 
sion, concerning  the  Turlupins.  See  Beausobre's  Disserta- 
tion sur  les  Adamites,  part  II.  p.  384-.  where  that  learned 
author  has  fallen  into  several  errors,  as  usually  happens  to 
him  when  he  treats  subjects  of  this  kind.  I  know  not  the 
origin  of  the  word  Turlupin,  but  I  am  able  to  demonstrate, 
by  the  most  authentic  records,  that  the  persons  so  called, 
who  were  burnt  at  Paris  and  in  other  parts  of  France,  were 
no  other  than  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  who  were  con- 
demned by  the  Roman  pontiffs,  and  also  by  various  councils. 

(a)  Hence  they  were  called  in  Germany,  Schwestriones, 
as  appears  by  the  decrees  of  several  councils. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  281 

Pantheists.     For  they  held,    "  That   all   things    CENT. 

XIII. 
PART  II. 


flowed  by  emanation  from  God,  and  were  finally 
"  to  return  to  their  divine  source  ;  that  rational 
"  souls  were  so  many  portions  of  the  Supreme 
"  Deity,  and  that  the  universe,  considered  as  one 
"  great  whole,  was  God  :  that  every  man,  by  the 
"  power  of  contemplation,  and  by  calling  off  his 
"  mind  from  sensible  and  terrestrial  objects,  might 
"  be  united  to  the  Deity  in  an  ineffable  manner, 
"  and  become  one  with  the  Source  and  Parent 
"  of  all  things  ;  and  that  they,  who,  by  long  and 
"  assiduous  meditation,  had  plunged  themselves, 
"as  it  were,  into  the  abyss  of  the  Divinity, 
"  acquired  thereby  a  most  glorious  and  sublime 
"  liberty,  and  were  not  only  delivered  from  the 
"  violence  of  sinful  lusts,  but  even  from  the  com- 
"  mon  instincts  of  nature."  From  these  and 
such  like  doctrines,  the  brethren  under  considera- 
tion, drew  this  impious  and  horrid  conclusion, 
"  That  the  person  who  had  ascended  to  God  in 
"  this  manner,  and  was  absorbed  by  contem- 
"  plation  in  the  abyss  of  Deity,  became  thus  a 
"  part  of  the  Godhead,  commenced  God,  was  the 
"  Son  of  God  in  the  same  sense  and  manner  that 
"  Christ  was,  and  was  thereby  raised  to  a  glo- 
"  rious  independence,  and  freed  from  the  obli- 
"  gation  of  all  lawrs  human  and  divine."  It  was 
in  consequence  of  all  this,  that  they  treated  with 
contempt  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel,  and  every 
external  act  of  religious  worship,  looking  upon 
prayer,  fasting,  baptism,  and  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  supper,  as  the  first  elements  of  piety 
adapted  to  the  state  and  capacity  of  children,  and 
as  of  no  sort  of  use  to  the  perfect  man,  whom  long 
meditation  had  raised  above  all  external  things, 
and  carried  into  the  bosom  and  essence  of  the 
Deity  (w). 

(w>)  It  may  not  be  improper  to  place  here  a  certain  num- 
ber of  sentences  translated  faithfully  from  several  of  the 
more  secret  books  of  these  heretics.  The  following  will  be 
sufficient  to  give  the  curious  reader  a  full  idea  of  their  impiety. 


282  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  XL  Among  these  Fanatics  there  were  several 
persons  of  eminent  probity,  who  had  entered  into 
this  sect  with  the  most  upright  intentions,  and 


Among  who  extended  that  liberty  of  the  spirit,  which  they 
tlcTtherT  looked  upon  as  the  privilege  of  true  believers,  no 
were  some  further  than  to  an  exemption  from  the  duties  of 
ghJishedtm~  external  worship,  and  an  immunity  from  the  posi- 
themseives  tive  laws  of  the  church.  The  whole  of  religion 
imnenTpro-  was  placed  by  this  class  of  men  in  internal  devo- 
bithy'r^at  tion,  and  they  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt 
wereiicen-  the  rules  of  monastic  discipline,  and  all  other 

tious  in  an 

infamous  '  Every  pious  and  good  man  is  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
degree.  God,  whom  God  engendered  from  all  eternity  :'  (for  these 
heretics  maintained,  that  what  the  scriptures  taught  concern- 
ing the  distinction  of  Three  Persons  in  the  divine  nature  is 
by  no  means  to  be  understood  literally,  and  therefore  ex- 
plained it  according  to  the  principles  of  their  mystical  and 
fantastic  system). 

1  All  created  things  are  non-entities/or  nothing  :  I  do  not 
say  that  they  are  small  and  minute,  but  that  they  are  abso- 
lutely nothing. 

'  There  is  in  the  soul  of  man  something  that  is  neither 
created,  nor  susceptible  of  creation,  and  that  is,  rationality, 
or  the  power  of  reasoning. 

1  God  is  neither  good,  nor  better,  nor  best  :  whosoever 
therefore  calls  the  Deity  good,  does  as  foolishly  as  he  who 
calls  an  object  black,  which  he  knows  to  be  white. 

*  God  still  engenders  his  only  begotten  son,  and  begets  still 
the  same  son,  whom  he  had  begotten  from  eternity.  For 
every  operation  of  the  Deity  is  uniform  and  one  j  and  there- 
fore he  engenders  his  son  without  any  division. 

'  What  the  scriptures  say  concerning  Christ  is  true  of  every 
good,  of  every  divine  man:  And  every  quality  of  the  divine 
nature  belongs  equally  to  every  person  whose  piety  is  ge- 
nuine and  sincere.' 

To  these  horrid  passages  we  may  add  the  following  sen- 
tences, in  which  John,  bishop  of  Strasbourg,  (in  an  edict  he 
published  against  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  or 
Beghards,  in  the  year  1317,  the  Sunday  before  the  feast  of 
the  assumption  of  the  Virgin  Mary)  discovers  farther  the 
blasphemous  doctrines  of  this  impious  sect.  '  Deus  (say  these 
Heretics)  est  formaliter  omne  quod  est.  Quilibet  homo  per- 
fectus  est  Christus  per  naturam.  Homo  perfectus  est  liber 
in  totum,  nee  tenetur  ad  servandum  priecepta  ecclesice  data 
a  Deo.  Malta  sunt  poedca  in  evangelic,  quse  non  sunt  vera, 
et  homines  credere  niagis  debent  conccptibus  ex  arnina  sua 
Deo  juncta  profectis,  quam  evangelic,'  &c. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  283 

external  rites  and  institutions,  as  infinitely  beneath  CENT. 
the  attention  of  the  perfect.  Nor  were  their  ex- 
hortations and  their  examples  without  effect ;  for  . 
about  the  middle  of  this  century  they  persuaded 
a  considerable  number  of  monks  and  devout  per- 
sons in  Swabia,  "  to  live  without  any  rule,  and  to 
"  serve  God  in  the  liberty  of  the  spirit,  which  was 
"  the  most  acceptable  service  that  could  be  pre- 
"  sented  to  the  Deity  («r)".  The  inquisitors,  how- 
ever, stopped  these  poor  enthusiasts  in  the  midst 
of  their  career,  and  committed  several  of  them  to 
the  flames,  in  which  they  expired,  not  only  with 
the  most  unclouded  serenity,  but  even  with  the 
most  triumphant  feelings  of  cheerfulness  and  joy. 

But  there  were  among  these  Brethren  of  the 
Free  Spirit  another  class  of  fanatics  very  different 
from  these  now  mentioned,  and  much  more  ex- 
travagant, whose  system  of  religion  was  as  danger- 
ous, as  it  was  ridiculous  and  absurd,  since  it 
opened  a  door  to  the  most  licentious  manners. 
These  wretched  enthusiasts  maintained,  that,  by 
continual  contemplation,  it  was  possible  to  eradicate 
all  the  instincts  of  nature  out  of  the  heaven-born 
mind,  and  to  introduce  into  the  soul  a  certain 
divine  stupor,  and  holy  apathy,  which  they  looked 
upon  as  the  great  characteristics  of  Christian 
perfection.  The  persons  who  adopted  these  sen- 
timents took  strange  liberties  in  consequence  of 
their  pretended  sanctity,  and  showed,  indeed,  by 
their  conduct,  that  they  had  little  regard  to  ex- 
ternal appearances ;  for  they  held  their  secret 
assemblies  stark  naked,  and  lay  in  the  same  beds 
with  their  spiritual  sisters,  or  indiscriminately, 
with  other  women,  without  the  smallest  scruple 
or  hesitation.  This  shocking  violation  of  de- 
cency was  a  consequence  of  their  pernicious 


(x)  See  Mart.  Crusius,  Annal.  Suevicorum,  part  III.  lib.  ii. 
cap.  xiv.  ad.  A.  1261.  p.  99.  edit,  vet.— This  author  has 
taken  his  materials  from  Felix  Faber,  an  impartial  writer. 


284  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    system.     They  looked  upon  decency  and  modesty 
as  marks  of  inward  corruption,  as  the  characters 

„ 1  of  a  soul  that  was  still  under  the  dominion  of  the 

sensual,  animal,  and  lascivious  spirit,  and  that  was 
not,  as  yet,  re-united  to  the  divine  nature,  its  cen- 
tre and  source.  And  they  considered,  as  at  a  fatal 
distance  from  the  Deity,  all  such  as  either  felt  the 
carnal  suggestions  of  nature,  or  were  penetrated 
with  warm  emotions  at  the  view  or  approach  of 
persons  of  a  different  sex,  or  were  incapable  of 
vanquishing  and  suppressing  the  rising  fervour  of 
lust  and  intemperance  ( y). 

There  were,  moreover,  in  this  fanatical  troop, 
certain  enthusiasts,  who  far  surpassed  in  impiety 
the  two  classes  we  have  been  now  mentioning ; 
who  abused  the  system  and  doctrines  of  the  sect, 
so  as  to  draw  from  them  an  apology  for  all  kinds 

(y)  Certain  writers,  whose  principal  zeal  is  employed  in 
the  defence  of  these  heretics,  and  who  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  entertain  a  high  idea  of  the  sanctity  of  all 
those  who,  in  the  middle  age,  separated  themselves  from  the 
communion  of  the  church  of  Rome,  suspect  the  inquisitors 
of  having  attributed  falsely  these  impious  doctrines  to  the 
Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  with  a  view  to  blacken  these 
pious  men,  and  to  render  them  odious.  But  this  suspicion 
is  entirely  groundless ;  and  the  account  of  this  matter,  which 
we  have  given  in  the  text,  is  conformable  to  the  strictest 
truth.  The  inquisitors  have  been  less  fabulous  in  their 
accusations  of  these  heretics  than  many  are  apt  to  imagine. 
They  acknowledge  that  the  Beghards,  though  destitute  of 
shame,  were  not  chargeable,  generally  speaking,  with  a  breach 
of  the  duties  of  chastity  and  abstinence.  They  were  indeed 
of  opinion,  that  this  firmness  and  insensibility  of  heart  which 
rendered  them  proof  against  female  charms  and  deaf  to  the 
voice  of  nature,  was  a  privilege  granted  them  by  the  devil. 
For  they  adopted  the  opinion  of  honest  Neider,  (Formicar. 
lib.  iii.  cap.  v.  p.  346.)  and  affirmed  that  it  was  in  the  power 
of  that  evil  spirit  to  render  men  cold,  and  to  extinguish  the 
warm  and  lascivious  solicitations  of  nature  ;  and  that  Satan 
wrought  this  miracle  upon  his  friends  and  adherents,  in 
order  to  procure  them  a  high  reputation  of  sanctity,  and 
make  them  appear  superior  in  virtue  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 
"  Credo  (saith  Neider,  who  was  both  a  Dominican  and  an 
"  inquisitor)  quosdam  ex  eis  daemonis  opera  affectos  fuisse, 
"  ne  moverentur  ad  naturales  actus  incontinentiae  ....  Facil* 
"  limum  enim  est  dsemonibus  infrigidare.'' 


PART  II, 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  285 

of  wickedness;  and  who  audaciously  maintained,  CENT. 
that  the  divine  man,  or  the  believer,  who  was 
intimately  united  to  God,  could  not  sin,  let  his 
conduct  be  ever  so  horrible  and  atrocious.  This 
execrable  doctrine  was  not,  indeed,  explained  in 
the  same  manner  by  all  the  Brethren  of  the  Free 
Spirit  that  were  so  outrageous  as  to  adopt  it. 
Some  held,  that  the  motions  and  actions  of  the 
body  had  no  relation  at  all  to  the  soul,  which,  by 
its  union  with  God,  was  blended  with  the  divine 
nature ;  others  fell  into  a  notion  infinitely  inju- 
rious to  the  Supreme  Being,  and  maintained,  that 
the  propensities  and  passions,  that  arose  in  the  soul 
of  the  divine  man  after  his  union  with  the  Deity, 
were  the  propensities  and  affections  of  God  him- 
self, and  were,  therefore,  notwithstanding  their 
apparent  deformity  and  opposition  to  the  law, 
holy  and  good,  seeing  that  the  Supreme  Being 
is  infinitely  exalted  above  all  law  and  all  obliga- 
tion (2).  It  is  necessary  to  observe  before  we  leave 

(z)  This  account  will  be  confirmed  by  the  following  pass- 
age faithfully  translated  from  the  famous  book  of  the  Nine 
Rocks,  written  originally  in  German  :  te  Moreover  the  divine 
man  operates  and  engenders  whatever  the  Deity  operates  and 
engenders.  For  in  God  he  produced  and  formed  the  heavens 
and  the  earth.  He  is  also  the  father  of  the  eternal  word. 
Neither  could  God  produce  any  thing  without  this  divine 
man,  who  is  therefore  obliged  to  render  his  will  conformable 
to  the  will  of  God,  that  so  whatsoever  may  be  agreeable  to 
the  Deity,  may  be  agreeable  to  him  also.  If  therefore  it  be 
the  will  of  God  that  I  should  commit  sin,  my  will  must  be 
the  same,  and  I  must  not  even  desire  to  abstain  from  sin. 
This  is  true  contrition.  And  although  a  man,  who  is  well 
and  truly  united  to  God,  may  have  committed  a  thousand 
mortal  sins,  he  ought  not  even  to  wish  that  he  had  not  com- 
mitted them ;  nay,  he  should  rather  die  a  thousand  deaths 
than  omit  one  of  these  mortal  sins."  Hence  the  accusation 
brought  by  the  inquisitors  against  this  impious  sect,  whom 
they  reproach  with  maintaining  that  the  "  sin  of  a  man 
united  to  God  is  not  sin,  since  God  works  in  him  and  with 
him  whatever  he  does."  Henry  Suso,  a  Dominican  monk,  and 
one  of  the  most  celebrated  mystic  writers,  composed  in  the 
following  century  another  Book  concerning  the  Nine  Rocks, 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  edition  of  his  works  published  by 


286 

CKNT. 

XIII. 

PART  II. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

this  subject,  that  flagitious  and  impious  impostors 
mingled  themselves  sometimes  with  this  sect,  and 
took  the  name  of  Beghards,  that  by  a  feigned 
piety  they  might  impose  upon  the  multitude,  and 
deceive  the  simple  into  their  snares  (#). 

Laurent.  Surius.  But  this  book  is  entirely  different  from  that 
which  was  in  such  high  esteem  among  the  Beghards,  though 
it  bears  the  same  title.  The  latter  is  of  much  older  date, 
and  was  in  vogue  in  Germany,  among  the  Brethren  of  the 
Free  Spirit,  long  before  Suso  was  born.  There  fell  some  time 
ago  into  my  hands  an  ancient  manuscript,  composed  in  Al- 
sace, during  the  fifteenth  century,  and  containing  an  account 
of  various  revelations  and  visions  of  that  age.  In  this 
manuscript  I  found  a  piece  entitled,  Declaratio  Religiosi 
cujusdam  super  Revelatione  Carthusiano  cuidam  de  Ecclesiae 
per  gladium  reformatione,  Leodii,  a.  1453,  facta ;  and  almost 
in  the  beginning  of  this  declaration  the  following  passage 
relating  to  the  Book  of  the  Nine  Rocks :  "  Homo  quidam 
devotissimus,  licet  Laicus,  Librum  de  novem  Rupibus  con- 
scripsit  a  Deo  compulsus,  ubi  multa  ad  prsesens  pertinentia 
continentur  de  Ecclesiae  renovatione  et  praevia  gravi  perse- 
cutione."  These  Nine  Rocks  signified,  according  to  the 
fanatical  doctrine  of  this  wrong-headed  sect,  the  different 
steps  by  which  the  divine  man  ascended  to  the  Deity. 

(a)  The  founder  of  this  famous  sect,  the  place  of  its  origin, 
and  the  precise  date  of  its  first  appearance,  are  not  known 
with  any  degree  of  certainty.  I  have  actually  in  my  posses- 
sion Eighty-nine  Sentences  of  the  Beghards,  vulgarly  called 
Schwestrones,  but  who  style  themselves  Brethren  of  the  Sect 
of  the  Free  Spirit  and  of  Voluntary  Poverty,  with  a  refutation 
of  the  said  sentences,  written  at  Worms  towards  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  century,  by  some  one  or  other  of  the  inquisitors. 
The  79th  of  these  sentences  runs  thus :  f '  To  say  that  the 
truth  is  in  Rhetia,  is  to  fall  into  the  heresy  of  Donatus,  who 
said,  that  God  was  in  Africa,  and  not  elsewhere."  From 
these  words  it  appears  evident,  that  Rhetia  was  the  place 
where  the  church  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit  was  fixed 
and  established,  and  that  from  this  province  they  passed  into 
Germany.  I  am  not,  however,  of  opinion,  that  this  sect  had 
its  first  rise  in  that  province ;  but  am  rather  inclined  to  think 
that  Italy  was  its  country,  and  that,  being  driven  from  thence, 
it  took  refuge  in  Rhetia.  Nor  is  it  at  all  improbable,  that 
Italy,  which  saw  so  many  religious  factions  arise  in  its 
bosom,  was  also  the  nursing  mother  of  this  blasphemous  sect. 
We  shall  be  almost  fully  confirmed  in  this  opinion  when  we 
consider  that,  in  a  long  letter  from  Clement  V.  to  Rainier 
bishop  of  Cremona  (published  by  Odor,  llaynaldus,  Annal. 
torn.  xv.  A.  1311,  n.  66.  p.  90.)  the  zealous  pontiff  exhorts 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies. 

XII.  The  famous  Amalric,  native  of  Bene,  CENT. 
and  professor  of  logic  and  theology  at  Paris, 
whose  bones  were  dug  up  and  publicly  burnt  in 
the  year  1209,  although  he  had  abjured  his  errors  A 
before  his  death,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
whose  disciples  and  followers  were  committed  to 
the  flames  on  account  of  their  absurd  and  per- 
nicious doctrine,  was,  undoubtedly,  of  the  same 
way  of  thinking  with  the  sect  whose  opinions  we 
have  been  now  considering  (&).  For  though  the 
writers  of  this  barbarous  age  have  given  very 
different  and  confused  accounts  of  this  man's 
opinions,  and  even  attributed  some  doctrines  to 
him  which  he  never  maintained,  it  is  nevertheless 
certain,  that  he  taught,  that  all  things  were  the 
parts  of  one  substance,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  universe  was  God,  and  that  not  only  the 
forms  of  all  things,  but  also  their  matter  or  sub- 
stance, proceeded  from  the  Deity,  and  must  return 
to  the  source  from  whence  they  were  derived  (c). 
From  these  absurd  and  blasphemous  principles 

that  prelate  to  suppress  and  extirpate,  with  all  his  might,  the 
sect  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  which  was  settled  in 
several  parts  of  Italy,  and  particularly  in  the  province  of 
Spoleto  and  the  countries  adjacent.  Such  are  the  terms  of 
the  pontiff's  letter :  "  In  nonnullis  Italiae  partibus,  tarn  Spo- 
letanse  provincia3,  quam  circumjacentium  regionum." 

(b)  This  did  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Beghards,  or  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  in  Germany,  much 
less  that  of  the  inquisitors,  who,  in  their  Refutation  of  the 
89  Sentences  of  the  Beghards  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
note,  express  themselves  thus :  (Sententia  68. )  "  Dicere 
quod  omnis  creatura  est  Deus,  hcresis  Alexandri*  est,  qui 
dixit,  materiam  primam  et  Deum  et  Hominem,  hoc  est 
mentes,  esse  in  substantia,  quod  postea  quidam  David  de 
Dinanto  sequutus  est,  qui  temporibus  nostris  de  hac  hseresi 
de  Francia  fugatus  est,  et  punitus  fuisset,  si  deprehensus 
fuisset." 

lUp0  (c)  The  account  given  by  Fleury,  in  his  Ecclesiasti- 
cal History,  of  the  opinions  of  Amalric,  is  very  different 
from  that  which  is  here  given  by  Dr.  Mosheim.  The  former 
observes,  that  Amalric,  or  Amauri,  taught  that  every  Chris- 

*  The  person  here  mentioned  is  Alexander,  the  Epicurean,  ef  whom  Plu- 
tarch speaks  in  his  Simposium. 


n, 


288  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  he  deduced  that  chimerical  system  of  fanatical 
devotion,  which  we  have  already  exposed  to 
the  view  of  the  reader,  pretended  to  demonstrate 
the  possibility  of  incorporating  or  translating  the 
human  nature  into  the  divine,  and  rejected  all 
kinds  of  external  worship,  as  insignificant  and 
useless.  The  disciples  of  this  enthusiast  were  men 
of  exemplary  piety,  were  distinguished  by  the 
gravity  and  austerity  of  their  lives  and  manners, 
and  suffered  death  in  the  most  dreadful  forms 
with  the  utmost  resolution  and  constancy.  One 
of  the  most  eminent  among  these  was  David  of 
Dinant,  a  Parisian  doctor,  who  usually  expressed 
the  fundamental  principle  of  his  master  in  the  fol- 
lowing proposition  :  "  God  is  the  primary  matter 
or  substance  of  all  things."  He  composed  a  work 
entitled  Quaternarii,  with  several  other  produc- 
tions, which  were  chiefly  designed  to  affect  and 
gain  the  multitude  ;  but,  after  all,  was  obliged  to 
save  himself  by  flight  (d).  The  bishops  assembled 

tian  was  obliged  to  believe  himself  a  member  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  without  this  belief  none  could  be  saved,  and  he  ob- 
serves also,  that  his  disciples  introduced  errors  still  more 
pernicious,  such  as  the  following  :  *•  That  the  power  of  the 
"  Father  had  continued  only  during  the  Mosaic  dispensation, 
"  that  of  the  Son  1200  years  after  his  entrance  upon  earth, 
"  and  that,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  age  of  the  Holy 
"  Spirit  commenced,  in  which  the  sacraments  and  all  ex- 
"  ternal  worship  were  to  be  abolished  ;  that  there  would  be 
"  no  resurrection:  that  heaven  and  hell  were  mere  fictions;" 
and  many  more  sentiments  of  that  nature,  which,  as  the 
learned  Spanheim*  imagines,  were  falsely  imputed  to  Amal- 
ric,  in  order  to  render  his  memory  odious  because  he  had 
opposed  the  worship  of  saints  and  images.  See  Fleury, 
Hist.  Eccles.  livr.  Ixxvi.  sect.  lix. — Dr.  Mosheim  looks  upon 
Amalric  to  have  been  a  Pantheist,  and  many  men  of  eminent 
learning  are  of  this  opinion.  See  among  others,  Joh.  Gerson 
apud  Jac.  Thomasium,  and  also  Brucker's  Hist.  Philosoph. 
torn.  Hi.  p.  688. 

(d)  See  Marteni  Thesaur.  Anecd.  torn.  iv.  p.  163.  where 
there  is  an  account  of  the  heresies,  for  which  several  priests 
were  burnt  at  Paris  in  the  year  1209- — Natal.  Alexander,  Hist. 
*  See  Spanhemii  Hist.  Eccl.  Saec.  xxii.  p.  1 694. 


CHAP.  v.         Divisions  and  Heresies.  289 

in  council  at  Paris  in  the  year  1209,  considered    CENT. 
the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  as  the  source  of  all  PARTIH. 


these  impious  doctrines,  and,  on  that  account,  pro- 
hibited the  reading,  or  explaining,  either  in  public 
or  private,  the  metaphysical,  and  other  produc- 
tions of  the  Grecian  sage  (61). 

XIII.    If  we  may  depend  upon  the  accounts  ;T"a^hi,in 
i  L.  -  v  A        i   •  i    i,-     r  i    Wllhel- 

given    by  certain    writers,    Amalric  and  his  fol-  mina. 

lowers  received  with  the  utmost  docility  and  faith 
the  predictions  attributed  to  Joachim,  abbot  of 
Flora,  concerning  the  reformation  that  was  soon 
to  be  brought  about  in  the  church  by  the  power 
of  the  sword ;  the  approaching  Age  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  was  to  succeed  those  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son,  and  other  things  of  that  nature, 
which  raised  the  hopes  and  occupied  the  thoughts 
of  the  Spiritual  Franciscans.  Whether  these 
accounts  may  be  depended  upon  or  not,  we  shall 
not  determine.  To  us  they  appear  extremely 
doubtful.  It  is,  however,  true,  that  certain 
persons  were  so  far  deluded  by  these  pretended 
prophecies,  as  to  form  new  sects  with  a  view  to 
their  accomplishment,  and  to  declare  war  against 
the  established  church,  its  system  of  doctrine,  and 
its  forms  of  worship.  Among  other  fanatical  sec- 
taries, there  arose  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
kind  ;  a  Bohemian  woman,  named  Wilhelmina, 
who  resided  in  the  territory  of  Milan.  This  deli- 
rious and  wrong-headed  woman,  having  studied 
with  attention  the  predictions  concerning  the  Age 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  was  extravagant  enough  to 
persuade  herself,  and,  what  is  still  more  amazing, 
had  influence  enough  to  persuade  others,  that  the 


Eccl.  Saec.  xiii.  cap.  iii.  art.  ii.  p.  76. — Du  Bois,  Historia 
Eccles.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p.  244-. — Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris, 
torn.  iii.  p.  24-.  48.  53. — Jac.  Thomasius,  De  Exustione 
Mundi  Stoica,  p.  199. 

(e)  Launois,  De  varia  Aristot.  Fortuna  in  Acad.  Paris,  p. 
127. 

VOL.   III.  U 


290 

CENT. 
XIII. 

PART  II. 


The  sect 
called  Apo 
sties. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

Holy  Ghost  was  become  incarnate  in  her  person, 
for  the  salvation  of  a  great  part  of  mankind.     Ac- 
cording to  her  doctrine,  "  None  were  saved  by 
"  the  blood  of  Jesus,  but  true  and  pious  Chris- 
"  tians  ;    while  the  Jews,  Saracens,  and  unworthy 
"  Christians,  were  to  obtain  salvation  through  the 
"  Holy  Spirit  which  dwelt  in  her,  arid  that,  in  conse- 
"  quence  thereof,  all  that  had  happened  to  Christ, 
"  during  his  appearance  upon  earth  in  the  human 
"  nature,  was  to  be  exactly  renewed  in  her  person, 
"  or  rather  in  that  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was 
"  united  to  her."      This    mad   woman   died   at 
Milan  in  the  year   1281,  in  the  most   fragrant 
odour  of  sanctity,  and  her  memory  was  not  only 
held  in  the  highest  veneration  by  her  numerous 
followers  and  the  ignorant  multitude,  but  was  also 
honoured  with  religious  worship  both  in  public 
and  in  private,     Her  sect,  nevertheless,  was  dis- 
covered by  the  curious  eye  of  persecution  in  the 
year  1300,  and  fell  into  the  clutches  of  the  inqui- 
sitors, who  destroyed  the  magnificent  monument 
that  had  been  erected  in  her  honour,  had  her 
bones  raised  and  committed  to  the  flames,  and  in 
the  same  fire  consumed  the  chief  leaders  of  this 
wretched  faction,  among  which  there  were  persons 
of  both  sexes  (y ). 

XIV.  It  was  upon  predictions  similar  to  those 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  section,  that  the  sect 
of  the  apostles  founded  its  discipline.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  sect  made  little  or  no  alterations  in 
the  doctrinal  part' of  the  public  religion;  what 
they  principally  aimed  at,  was,  to  introduce 

(f)  The  Milanese  historians,  such  as  Bernard,  Corius, 
and  others,  have  related  the  adventures  of  this  odd  woman  ; 
but  their  accounts  are  very  different  from  those  given  by  the 
learned  Muratori,  in  his  Antiq.  Italicae  Medii  Mvi,  torn.  v. 
p.  91 .  and  which  he  has  drawn  from  the  judicial  proceedings 
of  the  court,  where  the  extraordinary  case  of  this  female 
fanatic  was  examined.  We  are  informed  by  the  same  ex- 
cellent author,  that  a  learned  writer,  named  Puricelli,  com- 
posed a  history  of  Wilhelmina,  and  of  her  sect. 


PART  rr. 


CHAP.  v.          Divisions  and  Heresies.  291 

among  Christians  the  simplicity  of  the  primitive  CENT. 
times,  and  more  especially  the  manner  of  life  that 
was  observed  by  the  apostles.  Gerhard  Sagarelli, 
the  founder  of  this  sect,  obliged  his  followers 
to  go  from  place  to  place  as  the  apostles  did,  to 
wander  about  clothed  in  white,  with  long  beards, 
dishevelled  hair,  and  bare  heads,  accompanied 
with  women  whom  they  called  their  Sisters. 
They  were  also  obliged  to  renounce  all  kinds 
of  property  and  possessions,  and  to  preach  in 
public  the  necessity  of  repentance,  while  in  their 
more  private  assemblies  they  declared  the  ap- 
proaching destruction  of  the  corrupt  church  of 
Rome,  and  the  establishment  of  a  purer  service, 
arid  a  more  glorious  church,  that,  according  to 
the  prophecies  of  the  abbot  Joachim,  was  to  arise 
from  its  ruins.  No  sooner  was  the  unhappy 
leader  of  this  faction  committed  to  the  flames  (g\ 
than  he  was  succeeded  in  that  character  by  a  bold 
and  enterprising  fanatic,  named  Dulcinus,  a  native 
of  Novara,  who  published  his  predictions  with 
more  courage,  and  maintained  them  with  more 
zeal,  than  his  predecessor  had  done,  and  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  declare  that,  in  a  short  time,  the 
Roman  pontiff  Boniface  VIII.  with  the  corrupt 
priests  and  the  licentious  monks,  were  to  perish 
by  the  hand  of  the  emperor  Frederic  III.  son 
of  Peter,  king  of  Arragon,  and  that  a  new  and 
most  holy  pontiff  was  to  be  raised  to  the  head  of 
the  church.  These  visionary  predictions  were,  no 
doubt,  drawn  from  the  dreams  of  the  abbot  Joa- 
chim, who  is  said  to  have  declared  among  other 
things,  that  an  emperor  called  Frederic  III.  was 
to  bring  to  perfection  what  Frederic  II.  had 
left  unfinished.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Dulcinus 
appeared  with  intrepid  assurance  at  the  head  of 
the  apostles ;  and  acting,  not  only  in  the  cha- 

(#)  This  unhappy  man  was  burnt  alive  at  Parma,  in  the 
year  1300. 


292 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


CENT,  racter  of  a  prophet,  but  also  in  that  of  a  general, 
PAHT  ii  ne  assembled  an  army  to  maintain  his  cause,  and 
perhaps  to  accomplish,  at  least  in  part,  his  pre- 
dictions. He  was  opposed  by  Raynerius,  bishop 
of  Vercelli,  who  defended  the  interests  of  the 
Roman  pontiff,  and  carried  on,  during  the  space 
of  two  years  and  more,  a  most  bloody  and  dread- 
ful war  against  this  chief  of  the  apostles.  The 
issue  of  this  contest  was  fatal  to  the  latter,  who, 
after  several  battles  fought  with  obstinate  courage, 
was  at  length  taken  prisoner,  and  put  to  death  at 
Vercelli  in  the  most  barbarous  manner,  in  the 
year  1307,  together  with  Margaret,  whom  he  had 
chosen  for  his  spiritual  sister,  according  to  the 
custom  of  his  sect.  The  terrible  end  of  Dulcinus 
was  not  immediately  followed  by  the  downfal  of 
his  sect,  which  still  subsisted  in  France,  Ger- 
many, and  in  other  countries,  and  stood  firm 
against  the  most  vehement  efforts  of  its  enemies, 
until  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when 
under  the  pontificate  of  Boniface  IX.  it  was 
totally  extirpated  (#). 

Atrueac-  XV.  This  famous  Joachim,  abbot  of  Flora, 
heresy°thate  whose  fanatical  predictions  turned  the  heads  of  so 
was  imputed  many  well-meaning  people,  and  excited  them  to 

to  Joachim. 

(h)  I  composed  in  the  German  language  an  accurate  hi- 
story in  three  books,  of  this  famous  sect,  which  is  very  little 
known  in  our  times,  and  I  have  in  my  hands  materials,  that 
will  furnish  an  interesting  addition  to  that  history.  That  this 
sect  subsisted  in  Germany,  and  in  some  other  countries,  until 
the  pontificate  of  Boniface  IX.  is  evident  from  the  Chronicle 
of  Herman  Cornerus,  published  by  Jo.  George  Echard,  in 
his  Corpus  Historicum  Medii  M\\,  torn.  ii.  p.  906.  and  may 
be  sufficiently  demonstrated  by  other  authentic  testimonies. 
In  the  year  1402,  a  certain  member  of  this  apostolic  sect, 
whose  name  was  William,  or  Wilhelmus,  was  burnt  alive  at 
kubeck.  See  Cornerus,  loc.  cit.  p.  1185.  The  Germans, 
who  were  accustomed  to  distinguish  by  the  name  of  Beg- 
hards  all  those  who  pretended  to  extraordinary  piety,  and 
sought,  by  poverty  and  begging,  an  eminent  reputation  for 
sanctity  and  virtue,  gave  this  title  also  to  the  sect  of  the 
Apostles. 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies. 

attempt  reforming  the  church  by  the  sword,  and    CENT. 
to  declare  open  war  against  the  Roman  pontiffs,  PART  'IIm 

did   not    fall    under  the  suspicion  of  heresy  on — 

account  of  these  predictions,  but  in  consequence  of 
a  new  explication  he  had  given  of  the  doctrine  of 
a  Trinity  of  persons  in  the  Godhead.  He  had  in 
an  elaborate  work  attacked  very  warmly  Peter 
Lombard,  the  master  of  the  sentences,  on  account 
of  the  distinction  this  latter  writer  had  made  be- 
tween the  Divine  Essence  and  the  three  Persons 
in  the  Godhead ;  for  Joachim  looked  upon  this 
doctrine  as  introducing  a  fourth  object,  even  an 
essence,  into  the  Trinity.  But  the  good  man  was 
too  little  versed  in  metaphysical  matters  to  carry 
on  a  controversy  of  such  a  subtile  nature,  and  he 
was  betrayed  by  his  ignorance  so  far  as  to  advance 
inconsiderately  the  most  rash  and  most  exception- 
able tenets.  For  he  denied  that  there  was  any 
thing,  or  any  essence,  that  belonged  in  common  to 
the  three  persons  in  the  Trinity,  or  was  jointly 
possessed  by  them  ;  by  which  doctrine  the  substan- 
tial union  between  the  three  Persons  was  taken 
away,  and  the  unity  of  the  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Ghost  was  reduced  from  a  natural  simple, 
and  numerical  unity,  to  a  moral  one  only  ;  that  is, 
to  such  an  unity  as  reigns  in  the  councils  and  opi- 
nions of  different  persons,  who  embrace  the  same 
notions,  and  think  and  act  with  one  accord.  This 
explication  of  the  Trinity  was  looked  upon  by 
many  as  very  little  different  from  the  Arian  system ; 
and  therefore  the  Roman  pontiff,  Innocent  III. 
pronounced,  in  the  year  1215,  in  the  council  of 
the  Lateran,  a  damnatory  sentence  against  the 
doctrine  of  Joachim,  which  sentence,  however, 
did  not  extend  to  the  person  or  fame  of  the  abbot 
himself.  And,  indeed,  notwithstanding  this  pa- 
pal sentence,  Joachim  has  at  this  day  a  considera- 
ble number  of  adherents  and  defenders,  more  espe- 
cially among  those  of  the  Franciscans,  who  are 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CxinT'    calle(*  Observants.     Some  of  these  maintain  that 
PART  ii.  ^e  book  of  this  abbot  was  corrupted  and  inter- 
polated by  his  enemies,  while  the  rest  are  of  opi- 
nion that  his  doctrine  was  not  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  those  that  opposed  it  (/'). 

(f)  See  Dan.  Papebrochius,  Disquis.  Histor.  de  Florensi 
Ordine,  Prophetiis,  Doctrina,  B.  Joachimi,  in  Actis  Sancto- 
rum. Maii,  torn.  vi.  p.  486.  which  contains  The  Life  of 
Joachim,  and  several  other  pieces  of  consequence.  See  also 
Natal.  Alexander,  Hist.  Eccles.  Ssec.  xiii.  Diss.  ii.  p.  331. — 
Luc.  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  iv.  p.  6. 


THE 

FOURTEEiNTH  CENTURY. 


PART  I. 

THE  .EXTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  Prosperous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  SEVERAL  attempts  were  made  by  the  monarchs    CENT. 
and  princes  of  the  west,  set  on  by  the  instiga-     XIV- 
tion  of  the   Roman  pontiffs,  to  renew  the  war 


in  Palestine  against  the  Turks  and  Saracens,  Fruitless 
and  to  deliver  the  whole  province  of  Syria  from  ^,™p£e 
the  oppressive  yoke  of  these  despotic  infidels,  crusades. 
The  succession  of  pontiffs  that  resided  at  Avignon 
were  particularly  zealous  for  the  renovation  of 
this  religious  war,  and  left  no  artifice,  no  me- 
thods of  persuasion  unemployed,  that  could  have 
the  least  tendency  to  engage  the  kings  of  England 
and  France  in  an  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land. 
But  their  success  was  not  answerable  to  their  zeal ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  powerful  influence  of 
their  exhortations  and  remonstrances,  something 
still  happened  to  prevent  their  producing  the  de- 
sired effect.  Clement  V.  urged  the  renewal  of 
this  holy  war  with  the  greatest  ardour  in  the  years 
1307,  1308,  and  set  apart  an  immense  sum  of 


296  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

Cxrv"'    money,  for  carrying  it   on  with  alacrity  and  vi- 
PART  i.   gour(tf).    John  XXII.  ordered  a  fleet  often  ships 

to  be  fitted  out  in  the  year  1319,  to  transport  an 

army  of  pious  adventurers  into  Palestine  (b\  and 
had  recourse  to  the  power  of  superstition,  that  is, 
to  the  influence  of  indulgences,  for  raising  the 
funds  necessary  to  the  support  of  this  great  enter- 
prize.  These  indulgences  he  offered  to  such  as 
contributed  generously  to  the  carrying  on  the  war, 
and  appointed  legates  to  administer  them  in  all  the 
countries  in  Europe  that  were  subject  to  his 
ghostly  jurisdiction.  But,  under  this  fair  show  of 
piety  and  zeal,  John  is  supposed  to  have  covered 
the  most  selfish  and  groveling  views  ;  and  we  find 
Lewis  of  Bavaria,  who  was  at  that  time  emperor, 
and  several  other  princes,  complaining  loudly 
that  this  pontiff  made  use  of  the  holy  war  as  a  pre- 
text to  disguise  his  avarice  and  ambition  (c)  ;  and 
indeed  the  character  of  this  pope  was  proper  to 
give  credit  to  such  complaints.  Under  the  pon- 
tificate of  Benedict  XII.  a  formidable  army  was 
raised  in  the  year  1330,  by  Philip  de  Valois, 
king  of  France,  with  a  view,  as  was  said,  to 
attempt  the  deliverance  of  the  Christians  in  Pa- 
lestine (d)  ;  but  when  he  was  just  ready  to  embark 
his  troops,  the  apprehension  of  an  invasion  from 
England  obliged  him  to  lay  aside  this  weighty 
enterprize.  In  the  year  1345,  Clement  V.  at  the 
request  of  the  Venetians,  engaged,  by  the  per- 
suasive power  of  indulgences,  a  prodigious  number 
of  adventurers  to  embark  for  Smyrna,  where  they 
composed  a  numerous  army  under  the  command 

(a)  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  15.  594-.  torn, 
ii.  p.  55.  57.  374.  391,  &c.     Ant.  Matthaei  Analecta  Veteris 
jEvi,  torn.  ii.  p.  577. 

(b)  Baluzii  Vitge  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  125.  torn.  ii. 
p.  515. 

(c)  Baluzius,  loc.  cit.  torn.  i.  p.  175.  786.     Matthaei  Ana- 
lecta Vet.  ^Evi,  torn.  ii.  p.  595.  598. 

(d)  Baluzius,  loc.  cit.  torn.  i.  p.  200. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  297 

of  Guido  or  Guy,  dauphin  of  Vienne  ;  but  the  CENT. 
want  of  provisions  obliged  this  army  to  return 
with  their  general  into  Europe  in  a  short  time  after 
their  departure  (tf).  This  disappointment  did 
not,  however,  damp  the  spirits  of  the  restless 
pontiffs  ;  for  another  formidable  army  was  as- 
sembled in  the  year  1363,  in  consequence  of  the 
zealous  exhortations  of  Urban  V.  and  was  to  be 
employed  in  a  new  expedition  against  the  infidels, 
with  John,  king  of  France,  at  its  head ;  but 
the  unexpected  death  of  that  prince  blasted 
the  hopes  that  many  had  entertained  from  this 
grand  project,  and  occasioned  the  dispersion  of 
that  numerous  body  which  had  repaired  to  his 
standards  (jf  ). 

II.  The  missionaries  that  had  been  sent  by  the  . 

Roman  pontiffs  into  China,  Tartary,  and  the  adja-  in  China  ty 
cent  countries,  in  the  preceding  century,  found  ™d  Tar- 
their  labours  crowned  with  the  desired  success, 
and  established  a  great  number  of  Christian 
churches  in  these  unenlightened  nations.  In  the 
year  1307,  Clement  V.  erected  Cambalu  (which 
at  this  time  was  the  celebrated  metropolis  of 
Cathay,  and  is,  undoubtedly,  the  same  with  Pekin, 
the  capital  city  at  present  of  the  Chinese  empire) 
into  an  archbishopric,  which  he  conferred  upon 
John  de  Monte  Corvino,  an  Italian  friar,  who 
had  been  employed  in  propagating  the  gospel  in 
that  country  for  many  years.  The  same  pontiff 
sent  soon  after  to  assist  this  prelate  in  his  pious 
labours  seven  other  bishops  of  the  Franciscan 
order  (g).  John  XXII.  exerted  in  this  good 


(e)  Fragmenta  Histor.  Romanae,  in  Muratorii  Antiq.  Ital. 
Medii  ^Evi,  torn.  iii.  p.  368. 

(/)  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  366.  386. 
371.  401. 

(g)  Waddingus,  Annal.  Ordin.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  ad  a.  1305. 
sect.  xii.  p.  69.  ad  a.  1307,  p.  91.  368.  torn.  vii.  p.  53.  221. 
torn.  viii.  p.  235. — J.  S.  Assemanni  Biblioth.  Orient.  Vatican. 


298  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    cause  the  same  zeal  which  had  distinguished  the 
X1V-     pontificate   of  his  predecessors.     Upon  the  death 

1  of  John  de  Monte   Corvino,  in  the  year    1330, 

he  sent  Nicolas  of  Bentra  to  fill  the  vacant  arch- 
bishopric of  Cambalu,  and  charged  him  with 
letters  to  the  emperor  of  the  Tartars,  who,  at  that 
time,  was  in  possession  of  the  Chinese  dominions. 
In  the  year  1338,  Benedict  XII.  sent  new  legates 
and  missionaries  into  Tartary  and  China,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  solemn  embassy  (1i)  with  which  he 
was  honoured  at  Avignon  from  the  Kan  of  the 
Tartars.  During  the  time  that  the  princes  of  this 
latter  nation  maintained  themselves  in  the  empire 
of  China,  the  Christian  religion  flourished  in  these 
vast  regions,  and  both  Latins  and  Nestorians  not 
only  made  a  public  profession  of  their  faith,  but 
also  propagated  it  without  any  apprehension  of 
danger,  throughout  the  northern  provinces  of 
Asia. 

Conversion  HI.  There  remained  in  this  century  scarcely 
anv  European  prince  unconverted  to  Christianity, 
if  we  except  Jagello,  duke  of  Lithuania,  who 
continued  in  the  darkness  of  paganism,  and  wor- 
shipped the  gods  of  his  idolatrous  ancestors, 
until  the  year  1386,  when  he  embraced  the 
Christian  faith,  received  in  baptism  the  name  of 
Vladislaus,  and  persuaded  his  subjects  to  open 
their  eyes  upon  the  divine  light  of  the  gospel. 
We  shall  not  pretend  to  justify  the  purity  of  the 
motives  that  first  engaged  this  prince  to  renounce 
the  religion  of  his  fathers,  as  they  were  accom- 
panied, at  least,  with  views  of  policy,  interest, 
and  ambition.  Upon  the  death  of  Lewis,  king 
of  Poland,  which  happened  in  the  year  1382, 
Jagello  was  named  among  the  competitors  who 

torn.  iii.  sect.  ii.  p.  521 — J.  Echardi  Scriptor.  Praedicator. 
torn.  i.  p.  537. — ActaSanctor.tom.  i.  Januarii,  p.  984. — Mo- 
shemii  Historia  Eccles.  Tartar. 

(h)  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontificum  Averiionensium,tom.i.  p.  242. 


CHAP.  i.  Prosperous  Events.  299 

aspired  after  the  vacant  throne;    and  as  he  was    CENT. 
a  rich  and  powerful  prince,  the  Poles  beheld  his  p*™\ 

pretensions    and    efforts   with   a   favourable   eye. 

His  religion  was  the  only  obstacle  that  lay  in  his 
way  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  views.  Hed- 
wige,  the  youngest  daughter  of  the  deceased  mon- 
arch, who,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate,  was  declared 
heiress  of  the  kingdom,  was  as  little  disposed  to 
espouse,  as  the  Poles  were  to  obey,  a  pagan,  and 
hence  Jagello  was  obliged  to  make  superstition 
yield  to  royalty  (i).  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Teutonic  knights  and  crusaders  extirpated  by  fire 
and  sword  any  remains  of  paganism  that  were  yet 
to  be  found  in  Prussia  and  Livonia,  and  effected, 
by  force,  what  persuasion  alone  ought  to  have 
produced. 

We  find  also  in  the  annals  of  this  century  a  Many  of 
great  many  instances  of  Jews   converted  to  the  become8 
Christian  faith.      The    cruel   persecutions    they  Christians 
suffered  in  several  parts  of  Europe,  particularly  in  compSu 
France  and  Germany,  vanquished  their  obstinacy,  «on. 
and  bent  their  untractable  spirits  under  the  yoke 
of  the  gospel.     The  reports  (whether  false  or  true 
we  shall  not  determine)  that  had  been  industri- 
ously spread  abroad,  of  their  poisoning  the  public 
fountains,   of  their  killing  infants  and  drinking 
their  blood,   of  their  profaning,  in  the  most  im- 
pious and  blasphemous  manner,  the  consecrated 
wafers  that  were  used  in  the  celebration  of  the 
eucharist,  with   other    accusations    equally   enor- 
mous, excited  every  wrhere  the  resentment  of  the 
magistrates   and   the   fury    of   the    people,    and 
brought  the  most  terrible    sufferings  that  unre- 
lenting vengeance  could  invent,  upon  that  wretched 
and  devoted  nation. 


(i)  Odor.  Raynaldus,  Annal.  Eccles.  ad  a.  1386.  sect.  iv. 
— Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  ix.  p.  71. — Solignac,  Hi- 
stoire  do  Pologne,  torn.  iii.  p.  241. 


300  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

IV.  The  Saracens  maintained,  as  yet,  a  consi- 
derable footing  in  Spain.  The  kingdoms  of  Gra- 
nada and  Murcia,  with  the  province  of  Andalusia, 
A  scheme  were  subject  to  their  dominion  ;  and  they  carried 
Ixpu^icm6  on  a  perpetual  war  with  the  kings  of  Castile,  Ar- 
of  the  Sara-  ragon,  and  Navarre,  in  which,  however,  they  were 
Spain?"  not  always  victorious.  The  African  princes,  and 
particularly  the  emperors  of  Morocco,  became 
their  auxiliaries  against  the  Christians.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Roman  pontiffs  left  no  means 
unemployed  to  excite  the  Christians  to  unite  their 
forces  against  the  Mahometans,  and  to  drive  them 
out  of  the  Spanish  territories  ;  presents,  exhorta- 
tions, promises,  in  short,  every  allurement  that 
religion,  superstition,  or  avarice  could  render 
powerful,  were  made  use  of  in  order  to  the  exe- 
cution of  this  arduous  project.  The  Christians, 
accordingly,  united  their  counsels  and  efforts  for 
this  end  ;  and  though  for  some  time  the  difficulty 
of  the  enterprize  rendered  their  progress  but  in- 
considerable, yet  even  in  this  century  their  affairs 
carried  a  promising  aspect,  and  gave  them  reason 
to  hope  that  they  should  one  day  triumph  over 
their  enemies,  and  become  sole  possessors  of  the 
Spanish  dominions 


(&)  See  Jo.  de  Ferreras,  Histoire  cle  1'Espagne,  torn,  iv,  v. 
vii.  —  Fragmenta  Histor.  Romanes,  in  Muratorii,  Antiq.  Ital. 
Medii  ^Evi,  torn.  iii.  p.  319,  in  which,  however,  there  is  a  con- 
siderable mixture  of  truth  and  falsehood.  —  Baluzii  Miscellan. 
torn.  ii.  p.  267. 


CHAP.  if.  Calamitous  Events.  301 


CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Calamitous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  THE  Turks  and  Tartars,  who  extended  their 
dominions  in  Asia  with  an  amazing  rapidity,  and    CENT. 
directed  their  arms  against  the  Greeks,  as  well  as 
against    the    Saracens,    destroyed   wherever   they 


went  the  fruits  that  had  sprung  up  in  such  a  rich  The  Ch™~ 
abundance  from  the  labours  of  the  Christian  mis- 


sionaries, extirpated  the  religion  of  Jesus  in  seve-inAsia- 
ral  provinces  and  cities  where  it  flourished,  and 
substituted  the  impostures  of  Mahomet  in  its 
place.  Many  of  the  Tartars  had  formerly  pro- 
fessed the  gospel,  and  still  more  had  tolerated 
the  exercise  of  that  divine  religion ;  but,  from  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  things  put  on  a  new 
face  ;  and  that  fierce  nation  renounced  every 
other  religious  doctrine,  except  that  of  the  Alco- 
ran. Timur  Beg,  commonly  called  Tamerlane, 
their  mighty  emperor,  embraced  himself  the  doc- 
trine of  Mahomet,  though  under  a  form  different 
from  that  which  was  adopted  by  the  Tartars  in 
general  (/).  This  formidable  warrior,  after  ha- 
ving subdued  the  greatest  part  of  Asia,  having 
triumphed  over  Bajazet,  the  emperor  of  the 
Turks,  and  even  filled  Europe  with  terror  at  the 


(I)  This  great  Tamerlane,  whose  name  seemed  to  strike 
terror  even  when  he  was  no  more,  adhered  to  the  sect  of  the 
Sonnites,  and  professed  the  greatest  enmity  against  their  ad- 
versaries the  Schiites.  See  Petit  Croix,  Histoire  de  Timur- 
Bec,  torn.  ii.  p.  151.  torn.  iii.  p.  228.  It  is,  however,  extremely 
doubtful,  what  was,  in  reality,  the  religion  of  Tamerlane, 
though  he  professed  the  Mahometan  faith.  See  Mosheim, 
Hist.  Eccles.  Tartaror.  p.  124. 


302  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    approach  of  his  victorious  arms,  made  use  of  his 
pARTV*i    authority   to    force   multitudes    of  Christians   to 

apostatize  from  their  holy  faith.     To  the  dictates 

of  authority  he  added  the  compulsive  power  of 
violence  and  persecution,  and  treated  the  disciples 
of  Christ  with  the  utmost  barbarity.  Persuaded, 
as  we  learn  from  the  most  credible  writers  of 
his  life  and  actions,  that  it  was  incumbent  upon 
the  true  followers  of  Mahomet  to  persecute  the 
Christians,  and  that  the  most  ample  and  glorious 
rewards  were  reserved  for  such  as  were  most 
instrumental  in  converting  them  to  the  Mahome- 
tan faith  (ni}  ;  he  employed  the  most  inhuman 
acts  of  severity  to  vanquish  the  magnanimous 
constancy  of  those  that  persevered  in  their  at- 
tachment to  the  Christian  religion,  of  whom  some 
suffered  death  in  the  most  barbarous  forms,  while 
others  were  condemned  to  perpetual  slavery  (n). 
The  decline  II.  In  those  parts  of  Asia,  that  are  inhabited 
o|tchristia.by  the  chjnes^  Tartars,  Moguls,  and  other 
China  and  nations  as  yet  less  known,  the  Christian  religion 

mTartary.    ^^    ^j^    j^    groun(Jj    J^    seeme(J    ^0    be    totally 

extirpated.  It  is,  at  least,  certain,  that  we  have 
no  account  of  any  members  of  the  Latin  church 
residing  in  those  countries,  later  than  the  year 
1370,  nor  could  we  ever  learn  the  fate  of  the 
Franciscan  missionaries  that  had  been  sent  thi- 
ther from  Rome.  We  have,  indeed,  some  records, 
from  which  it  would  appear  that  there  were 
Nestorians  residing  in  China  so  far  down  as  the 


(m)  Petit  Croix,  Histoire  de  Timur-Bec,  torn.  ii.  p.  329. 
torn.  iii.  p.  9.  137.  243.  &c. 

(n)  Many  instances  of  this  we  find  in  a  History  of  Timur- 
Bec,  wrote  by  a  Persian,  who  was  named  Scherfedinns,  torn, 
ii.  p.  376.  384.  386.  torn.  iii.  p.  24-3.  torn.  iv.  p.  111.  115. 
117.  and  published  at  Delft,  in  four  volumes,  8vo.  in  the  year 
1723.— See  also  Herbelot,  Biblioth.  Oriental,  at  the  article 
Timur,  p.  877. 


CHAP.  IT.  Calamitous  Events.  303 

sixteenth  century  (o) ;  but  these  records  are  not 
so  clear  in  relation  to  this  matter,  as  to  remove 
all  uncertainty  and  doubting.  However  that  may 
be,  it  is  evident  beyond  all  contradiction,  that  the 
abolition  of  Christianity  in  those  remote  parts  of 
the  world,  was  owing  to  the  wars  that  were  carried 
on  by  the  Tartars  against  the  Chinese  and  other 
Asiatic  nations ;  for  in  the  year  1369,  the  last 
emperor  of  the  race  of  Gengis  Kan  was  driven  out 
of  China,  and  his  throne  filled  by  the  Mini  family, 
who,  by  a  solemn  law,  refused  to  all  foreigners  the 
privilege  of  entering  into  China. 

(o)  Nicol.  Trigautius,  De  Christiana  Expeditione  apud 
Sinas,  lib.  i.  cap.  xi.  p.  116. — Jos.  Sim.  Assemanni  Biblioth. 
Orient.  Vatican,  torn.  iii.  part  L  p.  592.  &  part  II.  p.  4-45. 
536. — Halde,  Description  de  la  Chine,  torn.  i.  p.  175. 


304, 


PART  II. 


THE  INTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  State  of  Letters  and  Philosophy 
during  this  Century. 

CENT.        !•  THE  Greeks,  though  dejected  by  the  foreign 

XIV-     and  intestine  calamities  in  which  they  were  in- 

_^  volved,  were  far  from  withdrawing  their  attention 

The  state    and  zeal  from  the  cause  of  literature,   as  is  evi- 

aldnttethe  ^^  ^Tom  t^ie  great  number  of  learned  men  who 
Greeks.  flourished  among  them  during  this  period.  In 
this  honourable  class  were  Nicephorus  Gregoras, 
Manuel  Chrysolorus,  Maximus  Planudes,  and 
many  others,  who  by  their  indefatigable  applica- 
tion to  the  study  of  humanity  and  antiquities,  cri- 
ticism and  grammar,  acquired  considerable  reputa- 
tion. To  omit  writers  of  inferior  note,  Theodorus 
Metochila,  John  Cantacuzenus,  and  Nicephorus 
Gregoras,  applied  themselves  to  the  composition 
of  history,  though  with  different  success.  Nor 
ought  we  to  pass  over  in  silence  Nicephorus 
Callistus,  who  compiled  an  Ecclesiastical  History, 
which,  notwithstanding  its  being  debased  with 
idle  stories  and  evident  marks  of  superstition,  is 
highly  useful  on  account  of  the  light  it  casts  on 
many  important  facts. 

The  state  H-  As  none  of  the  sages  of  this  century  was 
of  phiioso-  advetiturous  enough  to  set  up  for  a  leader  in  phi- 
ifs.  losophy,  such  of  the  Greeks  as  had  a  taste  for 
philosophical  researches  adhered  to  Aristotle,  as 
their  conductor  and  guide  ;  but  we  may  learn 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  305 

from  the  tracts  of  Theodorus  Metochita  in  what    CENT. 

XIV. 

PART  II. 


manner  they  explained  the  principles  and  tenets 


of  the  Stagirite.  Plato  also  had  his  followers, 
especially  among  those  who  were  fond  of  my- 
sticism, which  had  for  many  ages  been  held  in  the 
highest  veneration  by  the  Greeks.  In  the  sub- 
lime sciences  of  mathematics  and  astronomy  Ni- 
colas Cabasilas  surpassed  all  his  contemporaries. 
Barlaam  adopted  the  sentiments  and  precepts  of 
the  Stoics  with  respect  to  the  obligations  of  mo- 
rality and  the  duties  of  life,  and  digested  them 
into  a  work  of  his,  which  is  known  by  the  title  of 
Ethica  ex  Stoicis 


III.  In  all  the  Latin  provinces,  schemes  were  The  state 
laid  and  carried  into  execution  with  considerable  !^ningtli 
success  for  promoting  the  study  of  letters,  im-  Latins. 
proving  taste,  and  dispelling  the  pedantic  spirit  of 
the  times.  This  laudable  disposition  gave  rise  to 
the  erection  of  many  schools  and  academies,  at 
Cologn,  Orleans,  Cahors,  Perusia,  Florence,  and 
Pisa,  in  which  all  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences, 
distributed  into  the  same  classes  that  still  subsist 
in  those  places,  were  taught  with  assiduity  and 
zeal.  Opulent  persons  founded  and  amply  en- 
dowed particular  colleges,  in  the  public  univer- 
sities, in  which,  besides  the  monks,  young  men  of 
narrow  circumstances  were  educated  in  all  the 
branches  of  literature.  Libraries  were  also  col- 
lected, and  men  of  learning  animated  to  aspire  to 
fame  and  glory,  by  the  prospect  of  honourable 
rewards.  It  must  be  confessed  indeed,  that  the 
advantages  arising  to  the  church  and  state,  from 
so  many  professors  and  learned  men,  did  not 
wholly  answer  the  expense  and  care  bestowed  on 
this  undertaking  by  men  of  rank  and  fortune  :  yet 
we  are  by  no  means  to  conclude,  as  many  have 
rashly  done,  that  all  the  doctors  of  this  age,  who 


(17)  Henrici  Canisii  Lectiones  Antique,  torn.  iv.  p.  4-0,5. 
VOL.  III.  X 


SOtf  The  Infernal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    rose  gradually  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  and 


XIV. 


more  honourable  stations,  were  only  distinguished 

PART  II 

by  their  stupidity  and  ignorance. 


The  state  of  IV.  Clement  V.  who  was  now  raised  to  the 
language  pontificate>  ordered  the  Hebrew,  and  other  Orien- 
tal languages,  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools, 
that  the  church  might  never  want  a  sufficient 
number  of  missionaries  properly  qualified  to  dis- 
pute with  the  Jews  and  Mahometans,  and  to 
diffuse  the  divine  light  of  the  gospel  throughout 
the  east  (r) :  in  consequence  of  which  appoint- 
.  ment,  some  eminent  proficients  in  those  tongues, 
and  especially  in  the  Hebrew,  flourished  during 
this  age.  The  Greek  language,  which  hitherto 
had  been  much  neglected,  was  now  revived,  and 
taught  with  general  applause,  first  of  all  by  Leon- 
tius  Pilatus,  a  Calabrian,  who  wrote  a  commen- 
tary upon  Homer,  and  a  few  others  (s\  but  after- 
wards with  far  greater  success,  and  reputation, 
by  Manuel  Chrysoloras  (£),  a  native  of  Constan- 
tinople. Nor  were  there  wanting  some  extra- 
ordinary geniuses,  who,  by  their  zeal  and  appli- 
cation, contributed  to  the  restoration  of  the 
ancient  and  genuine  eloquence  of  the  Latins, 
among  whom  the  excellent  and  justly-renowned 
Petrarch  held  the  first  place  (?/),  and  Dante 


-    {/•)   See  Ant.  Wood,  Antiq.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i.  p.  15G,  159. 

(s)  See  Humph.  Hody,  De  Graecis  illustrious,  Linguae 
Graecae  Literarumque  Humaniorum  Instauratoribus,  lib.  i.  p. 
5.  Londini,  1742,  in  8vo. — Calogera,  Opusculi  Scientific!, 
torn,  xxv,  p.  258. 

(t)  Hody,  loc.  cit.  lib.  i.  p.  10. — Angeli  Calogerae  loc.  cit. 
p.  248. — And  more  especially  Christ.  Frid.  Borneri  Lib.  de 
Graecis  Literarum  Grsecarum  in  Italia  instauratoribus. 

(M)  See  Jac.  Phil.  Thomasini  Vita  Petrarchi  in  Jo.  Gerh. 
Meuschen  Vitae  Claror.  Viror.  torn.  iv.  who  in  his  Preface 
enumerates  all  the  other  writers  of  his  life.  Of  the  cele- 
brated poet  Dante,  several  have  treated,  particularly  his 
translator  Benevenutus  of  Imola,  from  whence  Muratorius 
has  borrowed  large  extracts  in  his  Antiquit.  Ital.  Medii 
i,  torn.  i.  p.  1036.  f. 


scienccs> 


CHAP.  r.         Learning  and  Philosophy.  307 

Alighieri  the  second.     Full  of  this  worthy  de-    CENT. 
sign,  they  both  acted  as  if  they  had  received  an  PART  ,, 
extraordinary  commission  to  promote  the  reign  of  - 
true  taste  and  the  progress  of  polite   learning  ; 
and  their  success  was  answerable  to  the  generous 
ambition    that  animated  their  efforts  ;    for  they 
had  many  followers  and  admirers,  not  only  among 
their  countrymen,  but  also  among  the  French  and 
Germans. 

V.  The  writings  of  this  age  furnish  us  with  a  of  the  other 
long  list  of  grammarians,  historians,  lawyers,  and 
physicians,  of  which  it  would  be  easy  to  give  a  , 
circumstantial  account  :   but  as  it  is  quite  foreign 

to  our  purpose,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  inform  our 
readers,  that  there  were  but  few  of  this  vast  mul- 
titude, whose  labours  were  in  any  great  degree 
useful  to  society.  Great  numbers  applied  them- 
selves to  the  study  of  the  civil  and  canon  law, 
because  it  was  the  readiest  way  to  preferment 
both  in  church  and  state.  Such  as  have  any  tole- 
rable acquaintance  with  history,  cannot  be  entirely 
strangers  to  the  fame  of  Bartoius,  Baldus,  An- 
dreas, and  other  doctors  of  laws  in  this  century, 
who  reflected  honour  on  the  universities  of  Italy. 
But,  after  all,  it  is  certain  that  the  jurisprudence 
of  this  age  was  a  most  intricate  disagreeable  study, 
unenlivened  either  by  history  or  language,  and 
destitute  of  every  allurement  that  could  recom- 
mend it  to  a  man  of  genius.  As  for  the  mathe- 
matics, they  were  cultivated  by  many  ;  yet,  if  we 
except  Doctor  Thomas  Bradwardine,  the  acute 
and  learned  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  there  were 
but  few  who  acquired  any  reputation  worth  men- 
tioning by  this  kind  of  study. 

VI.  The   vast   number   of  philosophers    who 
rather  disgraced  than  adorned  this  century,  looked  p!iy- 
upon  Aristotle  as  their  infallible  oracle  and  guide  ; 
though  they  stript  him  of  all  those  excellencies 
that  really  belonged  to  him,   and  were  incapable 

x  2 


90S  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    of  entering  into  the  true  spirit  of  his  writings. 


£reat  was  the  authority  of  the  peripatetic  phi- 
1  losophy,  that,  in  order  to  diffuse  the  knowledge 
of  it  as  widely  as  possible,  even  kings  and  em- 
perors ordered  the  works  of  Aristotle  to  be  trans- 
lated into  the  native  language  of  their  respective 
dominions.  Among  the  most  eminent  of  this 
class  was  Charles  V.  king  of  France,  who  or- 
dered all  the  writings  of  the  ancients,  and  espe- 
cially those  of  Aristotle,  to  be  translated  into 
French  by  Nicholas  Oresme  (w).  Those,  how- 
ever, who  professed  themselves  philosophers,  in- 
stead of  being  animated  by  the  love  of  truth, 
were  inflamed  by  a  rage  of  disputation,  which 
led  them  to  perplex  and  deform  the  pure,  simple 
doctrines  of  reason  and  religion,  by  a  multitude 
of  idle  subtilties,  trifling  questions,  and  ridicu- 
lous distinctions.  It  is  needless  to  enlarge  on 
the  barbarity  of  their  phraseology,  in  which 
they  supposed  the  whole  strength  of  their  art 
consisted  ;  as  also,  on  that  utter  aversion  to  every 
branch  of  polite  learning  in  which  they  foolishly 
gloried.  Those  who  have  a  mind  to  be  acquainted 
with  their  methods  of  argumentation,  and  what- 
^ever  else  relates  to  this  wrangling  tribe,  need  only 
consult  John  Scotus,  or  Walter  Bulagus.  But 
though  they  all  followed  one  common  track,  there 
were  several  points  on  which  they  differed  among 
themselves. 

o-  ^II'  ^e  old  disputes  between  the  Realists 
and  Nominalists,  which  had  lain  dormant  a  long 
time,  were  now  revived  with  unextinguishable 
ardour,  by  an  English  Franciscan  friar  of  the 
severer  order,  named  William  Occam,  who  was  a 
follower  of  the  great  Scotus,  and  a  doctor  of  divi- 

(w)  Jo.  Launoius,  Hist.  Gymnas.  Navarr.  torn.  iv.  opp. 
part  I.  p.  504. — Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn  iv.  p.  379. 
— Le  Boeuf,  J)issert.  snr  1'Hist.  Eccles.  et  Civile,  Par.  torn, 
iii.  p.  456.  463.  s. 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  309 

nity  at  Paris.  The  Greeks  and  Persians  never  CENT. 
fought  against  each  other  with  more  hatred  and  xlv* 
fury  than  these  two  discordant  sects,  whose  angry 
disputations  subsisted  without  any  abatement,  till 
the  appearance  of  Luther,  who  soon  obliged  the 
scholastic  divines  to  terminate  their  mutual 
wranglings,  and  to  listen  to  terms  of  accommo- 
dation. The  Realists  despised  their  antagonists 
as  philosophers  of  a  recent  date,  branding  them 
with  the  name  of  Moderns,  while,  through  a  great 
mistake,  they  ascribed  a  very  high  antiquity  to 
the  tenets  of  their  own  party.  The  Nominalists, 
on  the  other  hand,  inveighed  against  them  as  a 
set  of  doting  visionaries,  who,  despising  sub- 
stantial matters,  were  pursuing  mere  shadows. 
The  Nominalists  had  the  most  eloquent,  acute, 
and  subtile  doctors  of  Paris  for  their  leaders, 
among  whom,  besides  Occam,  the  famous  John 
Buridan  (>r)  was  very  eminent  ;  nevertheless, 
through  the  countenance  given  them  by  succes- 
sive popes,  the  Realists  prevailed.  For  when 
Occam  joined  the  party  of  the  Franciscan  monks, 
who  strenuously  opposed  John  XXII.  that  pope 
himself,  and  his  successors  after  him,  left  no  means 
untried  to  extirpate  the  philosophy  of  the  Nomi- 
nalists, which  was  deemed  highly  prejudicial  to 
the  interests  of  the  church  (if)  ;  and  hence  it  was, 
that,  in  the  year  1339,  the  university  of  Paris,  by 
a  public  edict,  solemnly  condemned  and  prohibited 
the  philosophy  of  Occam,  which  was  that  of  the 
Nominalists  (#).  But  as  it  is  natural  for  men  to 

(x)  Rob.  Guaginus  wrote  a  particular  account  of  this 
famous  man,  as  we  learn  from  Jo.  JLaunoius,  in  his  Historia 
Gymnasii  Navarreni,  torn.  iv.  opp.  part  I.  p.  722.  see  also  p. 
296,  297.  330.  and  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p. 
282.  307.  341,  &c. 

(y)   Steph.  Buluzii  Miscellanea,  torn.  iv.  p.  532. 

(z)  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  257.  torn.  v.  p. 
708. — Car.  Pless.  d'Argentre,  Collectio  Judiciorum  de  novis 
Erroribus,  &c.  see  Mosheim. 


!wphphof" 

the  times, 


310  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

^iv"    ^°Ve  all(^  Pursue  wnat  is  forbidden,  the  consequence 
PART  ii.  was>  tnat  tne  party  of  the  Nominalists  flourished 
more  than  ever. 

VIII.  Among  the  philosophers  of  these  times, 
there  were  many  who  mingled  astrology  with 
their  philosophy,  i.  e.  the  art  of  telling  fortunes, 
by  the  aspect  of  the  heavens,  and  the  influence  of 
*  e  s*ars  >  an(^»  notwithstanding  the  obvious  folly 
and  absurdity  of  this  pretended  science,  all  ranks 
of  people,  from  the  highest  down  to  the  lowest, 
were  fond  of  it  even  to  distraction.  Yet,  in  spite 
of  all  this  popular  prejudice  in  favour  of  their 
art,  these  astrological  philosophers,  to  avoid  being- 
impeached  of  witchcraft,  and  to  keep  themselves 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  inquisitors,  were  obliged  to 
behave  with  great  circumspection.  The  neglect 
of  this  caution  was  remarkably  fatal  to  Ceccus 
Asculanus,  a  famous  peripatetic  philosopher,  astro- 
loger, and  mathematician,  first  of  all  physician  to 
pope  John  XXII.  and  afterwards  to  Charles 
Sineterra,  Duke  of  Calabria.  This  unhappy  man 
having  performed  some  experiments  in  mechanics, 
that  seemed  miraculous  to  the  vulgar,  and  having 
also  offended  many,  and  among  the  rest  his 
master,  by  giving  out  some  predictions,  which 
were  said  to  have  been  fulfilled,  was  universally 
supposed  to  deal  with  infernal  spirits,  and  burnt 
foF  it  by  the  inquisitors  at  Florence,  in  the  year 
1337  (#).  There  is  yet  extant  a  commentary  of 
his  upon  the  Sphere  of  John  de  Sacrobusco, 
otherwise  named  Holywood,  which  shows  its 
author  to  have  been  deeply  tainted  with  super- 
stition (/;). 

(a)  Paul  Ant.  Appianus  wrote  a  defence  of  this  unhappy 
man,  which  is  inserted  in  Domen.  Bernini  Storia  di  tutte 
1'Heresi.  torn.  iii.  sect.  xiv.  cap.  iii.  p.  210.  s.  We  have  also  a 
further  account  of  him  in  Jo.  Maria  Crescimbenus,  Commen- 
tari  della  volgar.  Poesia,  vol.  ii.part  II.  lib.  iii.  cap.  xiv. 

(/>)  Gabr.  Naudaeus,  Apologie  pourles  grands  Homines  qui 
ont  ete  soupsonnez  de  Magie,  p.  270.  s. 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  oil 

IX.  Raymund  Lully  was  the  author  of  a  new    CENT. 
and  very  singular  kind  of  philosophy,  which  he     XIV* 

*         i  -11  i       -i     /*        i     i         i   •  i          PART  II 

endeavoured  to  illustrate  and  defend  by  his  volu- 

minous  writings.  He  was  a  native  of  Majorca,  The  phih 
and  admirable  for  the  extent  and  fecundity  of  his  i°£iiy.C 
genius ;  yet,  at  the  same  time,  a  strange  compound 
of  reason  and  folly.  Being  full  of  zeal  for  the 
propagation  of  the  gospel,  and  having  performed 
many  voyages,  and  undergone  various  hardships 
to  promote  it,  he  was  slain  at  Bugia,  in  Africa, 
in  the  year  1315,  by  the  Mahometans,  whom  he 
was  attempting  to  convert.  The  Franciscans,  to 
whose  third  order  it  is  said  he  belonged,  extol  him 
to  the  skies,  and  have  taken  great  pains  to  persuade 
several  popes  to  canonize  him ;  w^hile  many,  on  the 
contrary,  and  especially  the  Dominicans,  inveigh 
bitterly  against  him,  calling  him  a  harebrained 
chemist,  a  hot-headed  fanatic,  a  heretic,  a  magi- 
cian, and  a  mere  compiler  of  the  works  of  the  more 
learned  Mahometans.  The  popes  entertained 
different  opinions  of  him  ;  some  esteeming  him  a 
harmless  pious  man,  while  others  pronounced  him 
a  vile  heretic.  But  whoever  peruses  the  writings 
of  Lully  without  prejudice,  will  not  be  biassed  by 
either  of  these  parties.  It  is  at  least  certain,  that 
he  would  have  been  a  great  man,  had  the  warmth 
and  fertility  of  his  imagination  been  tempered 
with  a  sound  judgment  (c). 

(c)  See  John  Salzinger's  Preface  to  Raymund  Lully's 
Works,  which  John  William,  elector  palatine,  caused  to  be 
collected  at  a  great  expense,  and  to  be  published,  in  1720, 
in  five  folio  volumes.  Luc.  Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor,  torn, 
iv.  p,  421.  torn.  v.  p.  157.  316.  torn.  vi.  p.  229.  Concerning 
the  famous  invention  of  Lully,  see  Dan.  Georg.  Morofius, 
Polyhistoire,  lib.  ii.  cap.  v.  p.  352.  s. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Doctors  and  Government  of  the 
Church  during  this  Century. 

CENT.  jw  THE  governors  of  the  church  in  this  period, 
PART  ii.  fr°m  tne  highest  to  the  lowest  orders,  were  ad- 
dicted to  vices  peculiarly  dishonourable  to  their 
sacred  character.  We  shall  say  nothing  of  the 
iiergy. '""  Grecian  and  Oriental  clergy,  who  lived,  for  the 
most  part,  under  a  rigid,  severe,  and  oppressive 
government,  though  they  deserve  their  part  in 
this  heavy  and  ignominious  charge.  But  with 
regard  to  the  Latins,  our  silence  would  be  inex- 
cusable, since  the  flagrant  abuses  that  prevailed 
among  them  were  attended  with  consequences 
equally  pernicious  to  the  interests  of  religion, 
and  the  well-being  of  civil  society.  It  is,  how- 
ever, necessary  to  observe,  that  there  were  even 
in  these  degenerate  times,  several  pious  and 
worthy  men,  who  ardently  longed  for  a  reformation 
of  the  church,  both  in  its  head  and  members,  as 
they  used  to  express  themselves  (W).  Laudable 
as  these  desires  undoubtedly  were,  many  circum- 
stances concurred  to  prevent  their  accomplish- 
ment ;  such  as  the  exhorbitant  power  of  the 
popes,  so  confirmed  by  length  of  time  that  it 
seemed  immoveable,  the  excessive  superstition  that 
enslaved  the  minds  of  the  generality,  together 
with  the  wretched  ignorance  and  barbarity  of  the 
age,  by  which  every  spark  of  truth  was  stifled, 
as  it  were,  in  its  very  birth.  Yet,  firm  and 
lasting  as  the  dominion  of  the  Roman  pontiffs 
seemed  to  be,  it  was  gradually  undermined  and 

(d)  Matt.  Flacius,  Catalogo  Testium  Veritatis,  lib.  xiii.  p. 
1697.  Jo.  Launoius,  De  Varia  Fortuna  Aristotelis,  p.  217.  Jo. 
Henr.  Hottingeri  Historia  Eccles.  Saec.  xiv.  p.  754. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  313 

weakened,  partly  by  the  pride  and  rashness  of  the  CENT. 
popes  themselves,  and  partly  by  several  unexpected  PART  ^ 
events.  


II.  This  important  change  may  be  dated  from  pfhp£'  Jjn 
the  quarrel  which  arose  between  Boniface  VIII.  opposite 
who  filled  the  papal  throne  about  the  beginning  papal  tyran 
of  this  century,  and  Philip  the  Fair,  king  of  ' 
France.  This  prince,  who  was  endowed  with 
a  bold  and  enterprising  spirit,  soon  convinced 
Europe,  that  it  was  possible  to  set  bounds  to  the 
overgrown  arrogance  of  the  bishop  of  Rome,  not- 
withstanding many  crowned  heads  had  attempted 
it  without  success.  Boniface  sent  Philip  the 
haughtiest  letters  imaginable,  in  which  he  asserted, 
that  the  king  of  France,  with  all  other  kings 
and  princes  whatsoever,  were  obliged,  by  a  divine 
command,  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  the 
popes,  as  well  in  all  political  and  civil  matters, 
as  in  those  of  a  religious  nature.  The  king 
answered  him  with  great  spirit,  and  in  terms 
expressive  of  the  utmost  contempt.  The  pope 
rejoined  with  more  arrogance  than  ever  ;  and,  in 
that  famous  bull,  unam  sanctam,  which  he  pub- 
lished, about  this  time,  asserted  that  Jesus  Christ 
had  granted  a  twofold  power  to  his  church,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  spiritual  and  temporal  sword ; 
that  he  had  subjected  the  whole  human  race  to 
the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiff,  and  that 
whoever  dared  to  disbelieve  it,  were  to  be  deemed 
heretics,  and  stood  excluded  from  all  possibility 
of  salvation  (e).  The  king,  on  the  other  hand, 
in  an  assembly  of  the  peers  of  his  kingdom,  held 
in  the  year  1 303,  ordered  William  de  Nogaret,  a 
celebrated  lawyer  (/),  to  draw  up  an  accusation 


(e)  This  bull  is  yet  extant  in  the  Corpus  Juris  Canon.  Ex- 
travagant. Commun.  lib.  i.  tit.  De  majoritate  et  obedientia. 

(f]  Of  this  celebrated  lawyer,  who  was  the  most  intrepid 
and  inveterate  enemy  the  popes  ever  had  before  Luther,  none 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 
against  the  pope,   in  which  he  publicly  charged 

A1V.  -I     •  *     1       1  •  •  I  1  • 

PART  ii.  nim  W1^h  heresies,  simony,  and  many  other  vices, 

demanding,    at   the    same   time,    an    oecumenical 

council  to  depose  such  an  execrable  pontiff.  The 
pope,  in  his  turn,  passed  a  sentence  of  excommu- 
nication, that  very  year,  against  the  king  and  all 
his  adherents. 

The  event  HI.  Philip,  shortly  after  he  received  his  sen- 
warnl*con-  tence,  held  an  assembly  of  the  states  of  the  king- 
test-  dom,  where  he  again  employed  some  persons  of 
the  highest  rank  and  reputation  to  sit  in  judgment 
upon  the  pope,  and  appealed  to  a  general  council. 
After  this,  he  sent  William  de  Nogaret,  with 
some  others,  into  Italy,  to  excite  a  sedition,  to 
seize  the  pope's  person,  and  then  to  convey  him 
to  Lyons,  where  the  king  was  determined  to 
hold  the  abovementioned  council.  Nogaret, 
being  a  resolute  active  man,  soon  drew  over  to 
his  assistance  the  powerful  family  of  the  Colon- 
nas,  then  at  variance  with  the  pope,  levied  a 
small  army,  seized  Boniface,  who  lived 'in  perfect 
security  at  Anagni,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  got 
him  into  his  power,  treated  him  in  the  most  shock- 
ing manner,  and  carried  his  resentment  so  far  as  to 
wound  him  on  the  head  by  a  blow  with  his  iron 
gauntlet.  The  inhabitants  of  Anagni  rescued  him 
out  of  the  hands  of  this  fierce  and  inveterate 
enemy,  and  conducted  him  to  Rome,  where  he 
died  soon  after  of  an  illness  occasioned  by  the 
rage  and  anguish  into  which  these  insults  had 
thrown  him 


have  given  us  a  fuller  account  than  the  Benedictine  monks, 
Hist.  Generale  de  Languedoc,  torn.  iii.  p.  114.  117.  s.  Philip 
made  him  chancellor  of  France  for  his  resolute  opposition 
against  the  pope. 

(g)  See  the  Acta  inter  Bonifacium  VIII.  Bened.  XI.  Cle- 
ment. V.  et  Philippum  Pulchrum,  published  A.  D.  1614,  by 
Peter  Puteanus. — Adr.  Baillet,  Hist.  deDemelez  du  Boniface 
VIII.  avec  Philippe  le  Bel,  printed  at  Paris,  in  4to.  in  1718. — 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  315 

IV.  Benedict   XL    who   succeeded   him,    and    CENT. 
whose   name,    before  his  accession  to  the  papal  PART'ir. 

chair,    was  Nicolas   Boccacini,    learned  prudence 

by  this  fatal  example,  and  pursued  more  moderate  Th5 ;,papal 

J  TT  1      1          f   1  '  residence 

and  gentle  measures.  He  repealed,  of  his  own  removed  to 
accord,  the  sentence  of  excommunication  that  his  Avlsnon- 
predecessor  had  thundered  out  against  the  king 
of  France  and  his  dominions  ;  but  never  could  be 
prevailed  upon  to  absolve  Nogaret  of  his  treason 
against  the  ghostly  majesty  of  the  pontificate. 
Nogaret,  on  the  other  hand,  set  a  small  value 
upon  the  papal  absolution,  and  prosecuted,  with 
his  usual  vigour  and  intrepidity,  in  the  Roman 
court,  the  accusation  that  he  had  formerly  brought 
against  Boniface ;  and  in  the  name  of  his  royal 
master,  insisted,  that  the  memory  of  that  pontiff 
should  be  branded  with  a  notorious  mark  of 
infamy.  While  this  was  transacting,  Benedict 
died,  A.  D.  1304  ;  upon  which  Philip,  by  his 
artful  intrigues  in  the  conclave,  obtained  the  see 
of  Rome  for  a  French  prelate  Bertrand  de  Got, 
archbishop  of  Bourdeaux,  who  was  accordingly 
elected  to  that  high  dignity,  on  the  5th  of  June 
1 305.  This  step  was  so  much  the  more  necessary, 
i«  that  the  breach  between  the  king  and  the 
court  of  Rome  was  not  yet  entirely  healed,  and, 
as  Nogaret  was  not  as  yet  absolved,  might  easily 
be  renewed.  Besides,  the  French  monarch,  in- 
flamed with  the  desire  of  revenge,  insisted  upon 
the  formal  condemnation  of  Boniface  by  the  court 
of  Rome,  the  abolition  of  the  order  of  Templars, 
and  other  concessions  of  great  importance,  which 
he  could  not  reasonably  expect  from  an  Italian  pope. 
Hence  he  looked  upon  a  French  pontiff,  in  whose 
zeal  and  compliance  he  could  confide,  as  necessary 

Jo.  Rubeus,  in  Bonifacio,  cap.  xvi.  p.  137. — The  other  writers 
on  this  subject  are  mentioned  by  Baillct,  in  his  Preface,  p.  9. 
-—See  also  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  4. 


316  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

°xi\^'  to  t^ie  executi°n  °f  his  designs.  Bertrand  as- 
PART  ii.  sumed  the  name  of  Clement  V.  and,  at  the  king's 
request,  remained  in  France,  and  removed  the 
papal  residence  to  Avignon,  where  it  continued 
during  the  space  of  seventy  years.  This  period 
the  Italians  call,  by  way  of  derision,  the  Babylonish 
captivity  (^). 

V.  There  is  no  doubt,  but  that  the  continued 


STe  papal  residence  of  the  popes  in  France  greatly  impaired 
authority,  the  authority  of  the  Roman  see.  For  during  the 
absence  of  the  pontiffs  from  Rome,  the  faction  of 
the  Gibellines,  their  inveterate  enemies,  rose  to  a 
greater  height  than  ever  ;  insomuch  that  they 
not  only  invaded  and  ravaged  St.  Peter's  patri- 
mony, but  even  attacked  the  papal  authority,  by 
their  writings.  This  caused  many  cities  to 
revolt  from  the  popes  ;  even  Rome  itself  was  the 
grand  source  and  fomenter  of  cabals,  tumults, 
and  civil  wars  ;  insomuch  that  the  laws  and 
decrees  sent  thither  from  France  were  publicly 
treated  with  contempt  by  the  common  people, 
as  well  as  by  the  nobles  (7).  The  influence  of 
this  example  was  propagated  from  Italy  through 
most  parts  of  Europe  ;  it  being  evident,  from  a 
vast  number  of  instances,  that  the  Europeans  in 
general  did  not  pay  near  so  much  regard  to  the 
decrees  and  thunders  of  the  Gallic  popes,  as 

(h)  For  an  account  of  the  French  popes,  consult  chiefly 
Steph.  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenionensium,  published  at 
Paris,  in  two  volumes  4to.  in  the  year  1693.  The  reader  may 
also  peruse,  but  it  must  be  with  the  utmost  caution,  Longue- 
val's  History  of  the  Gallican  Church,  and  those  who  con- 
tinued that  work  after  his  death.  See  more  especially  torn.  xii. 
This  Jesuit,  and  his  successors,  have  shown  great  industry 
and  eloquence  in  the  composition  of  this  history  ;  but  they, 
for  the  most  part,  artfully  conceal  the  vices  and  enormities 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs. 

(j)  See  Baluzii  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  ii.  p.  290,  291.  301. 
309.  323,  and  many  other  places.  —  Muratorii  Antiq.  Ital.  torn. 
iii.  p.  397.  401.  409,  &c.  —  Giannone,  Histoire  de  Naples, 
torn.  iii.  p.  280. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  317 

they  did  to  those  of  Rome.     This  gave  rise  to    CENT. 
various  seditions  against  the  pontiffs,  which  they 

could  not  entirely  crush,   even  with  the  aid  of 

the  inquisitors,  who  exerted  themselves  with  the 
most  barbarous  fury. 

VI.  The  French  pontiffs,  finding  they  could  New 
draw  but  small  revenues  from  their  Italian  domi-  v 
nions,  which  were  now  torn  in  pieces  by  faction,  the  popes 
and  ravaged  by  sedition,  were  obliged  to  contrive 
new  methods  of  accumulating  wealth.  For  this 
purpose,  they  not  only  sold  indulgences  to  the 
people,  more  frequently  than  they  had  formerly 
done,  whereby  they  made  themselves  extremely 
odious  to  several  potentates,  but  also  disposed 
publicly  of  scandalous  licences,  of  all  sorts,  at  an 
excessive  price.  John  XXII.  was  remarkably 
shrewd  and  zealous  in  promoting  this  abomin- 
able traffic  ;  for,  though  he  was  not  the  first  in- 
ventor of  the  taxes  and  rules  of  the  apostolical 
chancery,  yet  the  Romish  writers  acknowledge 
that  he  enlarged  and  rendered  them  more  exten- 
sively profitable  to  the  holy  treasury  (&).  It  is 
certain,  that  the  origin  of  the  tribute  paid  to  the 
popes  under  the  name  of  Annates,  and  which  is 
generally  affirmed  to  have  been  first  imposed  by 
him,  is  of  a  much  earlier  date  (/).  Besides  the 
abuses,  now  mentioned,  these  Gallic  popes  having 
abolished  the  right  of  elections,  arrogated  to  them- 
selves a  power  of  conferring  all  the  offices  of  the 
church,  whether  greater  or  smaller,  according  to 
their  fancy,  by  which  they  soon  amassed  prodigi- 
ous wealth.  It  was  also  under  their  government 

(k)  Jo.  Ciampinus,  De  Vicecancellario  Ecclesise  Rom.  p. 
39. — Car.  Chais,  Lettres  sur  les  Jubiles,  torn.  ii.  p.  673.  and 
others. 

(/)  Bernh.  van  Espen,  Jus  Eccles.  Universale,  torn.  ii.  p. 
876. — Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  911. — Ant. 
Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  213. — Guil.  Franc.  Ber- 
thier.Diss.  sur  les  Annates,  torn.  xii.  Hist,  de  PEglise  Gallic, 
p.  i. 


318  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    that  reserves,  provisions,  expectatives,  and  other 
PART*!!  imPositions   of  tne  like   odious  nature,   that  had 

_I 1  seldom   or  never  been  heard   of  before,  became 

familiar  to  the  public  ear,  and  filled  all  Europe 
with  bitter  complaints  (772).  These  complaints 
exceeded  all  bounds,  when  some  of  these  pontiffs, 
particularly  John  XXII.  Clement  VI.  and  Gre- 
gory X.  openly  declared  that  they  had  reserved 
to  themselves  all  churches  and  parishes  within 
their  jurisdiction,  and  were  determined,  in  con- 
sequence of  that  sovereign  authority  and  plenitude 
of  power  which  Christ  had  conferred  upon  them, 
his  vicars,  to  provide  for  them,  and  dispose  of 
them  without  exception  (n).  It  was  by  these 
and  other  such  mean  and  selfish  contrivances, 
which  had  no  other  end  than  the  acquisition  of 
riches,  that  these  inconsiderate  pontiffs  excited  a 
general  hatred  against  the  Roman  see,  and  there- 
by greatly  weakened  the  papal  empire,  which  had 
been  visibly  upon  the  decline  from  the  time  of 
Boniface. 

The  obse-  VII.  Clement  V.  was  a  mere  creature  of  Phi- 
ScESt  Kp  tne  Fair>  and  was  absolutely  directed  and 
y.  to  Phi-  governed  by  that  prince  as  long  as  he  lived. 
llp>  William  de  Nogaret,  the  implacable  enemy  of 

Boniface  VIII.  notwithstanding  he  was  under 
a  sentence  _of  excommunication,  had  the  bold- 
ness to  prosecute  his  master's  cause,  and  his 
own,  against  Boniface  even  in  the  pope's  court ; 
an  instance  of  assurance  this,  not  easy  to  be  pa- 
ralleled. Philip  insisted,  that  the  dead  body  of 

» 

(01)  Steph.  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  ii.  p.  479.  518.  Ejus 
Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  ii.  p.  60.  63.  65.  74.  154.  156. 
Gallia  Christiana  Benedictinor.  tom.i  Append,  p.  13.  Wood, 
Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  148.  201,  202.  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad. 
Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  911. 

(n)  Baluzii  Pontif.  Avenion.  tom.ii.  p.  873.  tom.i.  p.  285. 
31 1 .  681 .  s.  Ant.  Matthaei  Analecta  Vet.  ^Evi,  torn.  v.  p.  349. 
s.  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  i.  p.  69.  1208.  Histoire  du  Droit 
Eccles.  Francois,  torn.  ii.  p.  129.  s. 


PA  HT   II. 


CHAP.  u.   Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  319 

Boniface  should  be  dug  up  and  publicly  burnt  ;  CENT. 
but  Clement  averted  this  infamy  by  his  advice 
and  intreaties,  promising  implicit  obedience  to 
the  king  in  every  thing  else.  In  order,  therefore,  to 
keep  his  word,  he  was  obliged  to  abrogate  the 
laws  enacted  by  Boniface,  to  grant  the  king  a 
bounty  of  five  years  tithes,  fully  to  absolve  No- 
garet  of  all  his  crimes,  on  condition  of  his  sub- 
mitting to  a  light  penance  (which,  however,  he 
never  performed),  to  restore  the  citizens  of  Anagni 
to  their  reputation  and  honour,  and  to  call  a  ge- 
neral council  at  Vienna,  in  the  year  1311,  in  order 
to  condemn  the  Templars,  on  whose  destruction 
Philip  was  most  ardently  bent.  In  this  council 
every  thing  was  determined  as  the  king  thought 
proper.  For  Clement,  terrified  by  the  melan- 
choly fate  of  Boniface,  durst  not  venture  to  op- 
pose this  intrepid  and  obstinate  monarch  (o). 

VIII.  Upon  Clement's  death,  which  happened  j0i,n 
in  the  year  1314,  many  fierce  contentions  arose  XXIL  Ni- 

j.1  l  i_    :    *    {A    .      •  J.1-      colas  V- 

in  the  conclave  about  choosing  a  successor,  the* 
French  cardinals  insisting  upon  a  French,  and 
those  of  Italy  demanding  an  Italian  pope.  After 
a  contest,  which  continued  two  years,  the  French 
party  prevailed,  and,  in  the  year  1316,  elected 
James  de  Euse,  a  native  of  Cahors,  and  cardinal 
bishop  of  Porto.  He  assumed  the  name  of  John 
XXII.  and  had  a  tolerable  share  of  learning, 
but  was  at  the  same  time  crafty  and  proud,  weak, 
imprudent,  and  covetous,  which  is  allowed  even 
by  those  writers  who,  in  other  respects,  speak 
well  of  him.  He  is  deservedly  censured  on  ac- 
count of  his  temerity,  and  the  ill  success  that 
attended  him,  through  his  own  imprudence,  in 

(o)  Besides  the  common  writers  already  cited,  see  Guil. 
Fran.  Berthierii,  Discours  sur  le  Pontificat  de  Clement.  V. 
torn.  iii.  Historiae  Eccles.  Gallic.  Colonia  Hist.  Litter,  de 
Lyon,  torn.  i.  p.  340.  Gallia  Christiana  Benedict,  torn.  i.  p. 
1189.  et  torn.  ii.  p.  829. 


PART  II. 


320  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  many  of  his  enterprizes ;  but  he  is  more  especi- 
XIV-  ally  blamed  for  that  calamitous  and  unhappy  war 
into  which  he  entered  against  Lewis  of  Bavaria. 
This  powerful  prince  disputed  the  imperial  throne 
of  Germany  with  Frederic,  duke  of  Austria ;  and 
they  had  been  both  chosen  to  that  high  dignity, 
in  the  year  1314,  by  their  respective  partisans 
among  the  electors  and  princes  of  the  empire. 
John  took  it  for  granted,  that  the  decision  of 
this  contest  came  under  his  ghostly  jurisdiction. 
But,  in  the  year  1322,  the  duke  of  Bavaria 
having  vanquished  his  competitor  by  force  of 
arms,  took  upon  him  the  administration  of  the 
empire  without  asking  the  pope's  approbation, 
and  would  by  no  means  allow,  that  their  dis- 
pute, already  determined  by  the  sword,  should 
be  again  decided  by  the  judgment  of  the  pope. 
John  interpreted  this  refusal  as  a  heinous  insult 
upon  his  authority,  and,  by  an  edict  issued  out  in 
the  year  1324,  pretended  to  deprive  the  emperor 
of  his  crown.  But  his  impotent  resentment  was 
very  little  regarded ;  nay,  he  was  even  accused 
of  heresy  by  the  emperor,  who,  at  the  same  time, 
appealed  to  a  general  council.  Highly  exaspe- 
rated by  these  and  other  deserved  affronts,  the 
pontiff  presumed,  in  the  year  1327,  to  declare 
the  imperial  throne  vacant  a  second  time,  and 
even  to  publish  a  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  the  chief  of  the  empire.  This  new  mark 
of  papal  arrogance  was  severely  resented  by  Lewis, 
who,  in  the  year  1328,  published  an  edict  at 
Rome,  by  which  John  was  declared  unworthy  of 
the  pontificate,  deposed  from  that  dignity,  and 
succeeded  in  it  by  one  of  his  bitterest  enemies 
Peter  de  Corbieri,  a  Franciscan  monk,  who 
assumed  the  name  of  Nicolas  V.  and  crowned 
the  emperor  at  Rome,  in  a  solemn  and  public 
manner.  But,  in  the  year  1330,  this  imperial 
pope  voluntarily  abdicated  the  chair  of  St.  Peter, 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

and  surrendered  himself  to  John,  who  kept  him  CENT 
in  close  confinement  at  Avignon  for  the  rest  of 
his  days.  Thus  ended  the  contest  between  the 
duke  of  Bavaria  and  John  XXII.  who,  notwith- 
standing their  mutual  efforts  to  dethrone  each 
other,  continued  both  in  the  possession  of  their 
respective  dignities 


IX.  The  numerous  tribes  of  the  Fratricelli,  Joim 
Beghards,  and  Spiritual  Franciscans,  adhered  to 
the  party  of  Lewis.  Supported  by  his  patronage,  heresy. 
and  dispersed  throughout  the  greatest  part  of 
Europe,  they  attacked  every  where  the  reigning 
pontiff,  as  an  enemy  to  the  true  religion,  and 
loaded  him  with  the  heaviest  accusations,  and  the 
bitterest  invectives,  both  in  their  writings  and  in 
their  ordinary  conversation.  These  attacks  did 
not  greatly  affect  the  pontiff,  as  they  were  made 
only  by  private  persons,  by  a  set  of  obscure 
monks,  who  in  many  respects  were  unworthy  of 
his  notice  ;  but,  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  life, 
he  incurred  the  disapprobation  and  censures  of 
almost  the  whole  Catholic  church.  For  in  the 


(p)  The  particulars  of  this  violent  quarrel  may  be  learned 
from  the  Records  published  by  Steph.  Baluz.  in  his  Vitse 
Pontiff.  Avenion.  torn.  ii.  p.  512.  s. — Edm.  Martene,  Thesaur. 
Anecdotor.  torn.  ii.p.  64?1.  s. — Jo.  Georg.  Herwart,  in  Ludo- 
vico  Imperatore  defense  contra  Bzovium,  Monachii,  1618. 
in  4-to,  et  Christ.  Gewald.  in  Apologia  pro  Ludovico  Bavaro, 
Ingoldstad.  1618,  in  4to,  against  the  same  Bzovius,  who,  in 
the  Annals  he  had  published,  basely  aspersed  the  memory  of 
the  emperor.  See  also  Luc.  Waddingus  in  Annalib.  Minor, 
torn.  vii.  p.  77.  106.  s.  &c.  Whoever  attentively  peruses  the 
history  of  this  war,  will  perceive  that  Lewis  of  Bavaria  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  Philip  the  Fair,  king  of  France.  As 
Philip  brought  an  accusation  of  heresy  against  Boniface,  so 
did  Lewis  with  respect  to  John  XXII.  The  French  monarch 
made  use  of  Nogaret  and  other  accusers  against  the  one 
pontiff.  Lewis  employed  Occam  and  the  Franciscans  in  that 
quality  against  the  other.  Each  of  them  insisted  upon  the 
assembling  a  general  council,  and  upon  the  deposition  of  the 
pontiffs  who  had  incurred  their  displeasure.  I  omit  other 
circumstances  that  might  be  alleged  to  render  the  parallel 
more  striking. 

VOL.  Ill,  Y 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  year  1331  and  1332,  having  asserted,  in  some 
public  discourses,  that  the  souls  of  the  faithful,  in 
their  intermediate  state,  were  permitted  to  behold 
Christ  as  man,  but  not  the  face  of  God,  or  the 
divine  nature,  before  their  re-union  with  the  body 
at  the  last  day  ;  this  doctrine  highly  offended 
Philip  VI.  king  of  France,  was  opposed  by  the 
pope's  friends  as  well  as  by  his  enemies,  and 
unanimously  condemned  by  the  divines  at  Paris, 
in  the  year  1333.  This  favourite  tenet  of  the 
pope  was  thus  severely  treated,  because  it  seemed 
highly  prejudicial  to  the  felicity  of  happy  spirits 
in  their  unembodied  state  ;  otherwise  the  point 
might  have  been  yielded  to  a  man  of  his  posi- 
tive temper,  without  any  material  consequence. 
Alarmed  by  these  vigorous  proceedings,  he  im- 
mediately offered  something  by  way  of  excuse  for 
having  espoused  this  opinion  ;  and  afterwards,  in 
the  year  1 334,  when  he  lay  at  the  point  of  death, 
though  he  did  not  entirely  renounce,  he,  in  some 
measure,  softened  it,  by  saying  he  believed  that 
the  unembodied  souls  of  the  righteous  beheld  the 
divine  essence  as  far  as  their  separate  state  and 
condition  would  permit  (</).  This  declaration  did 
not  satisfy  his  adversaries  ;  hence  his  successor, 
Benedict  XII.  after  many  disputes  had  been  held 
about  it,  put  an  end  to  this  controversy  by  an 
unanimous  resolution  of  the  Parisian  doctors,  or- 
dering it  to  be  received  as  an  article  of  faith,  that 
the  souls  of  the  blessed,  during  their  intermediate 
state,  did  fully  and  perfectly  contemplate  the 


(q)  See  Steph.  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p. 
175.  177.  182.  197.  221.  786.  £c. — Luc.  Dacherii  Spicil. 
Scriptor.  Veter.  torn.  i.  p.  760.  ed.  Vet.— Jo.  Launoii  Historia 
Gymnas.  Navarreni,  part.  I.  cap.  vii.  p.  319.  torn.  iv.  part.  I. 
opp. — Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  235.  250. — 
Luc.  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  371.  torn.  vii.  p. 
145. — Jac.  Echardi  Scriptor.  Prsedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  599. 
608. 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

divine  nature  (r).  Benedict's  publishing  this  CENT. 
resolution  could  be  in  no  way  injurious  to  the 
memory  of  John  ;  for  when  the  latter  lay  upon 
his  death-bed,  he  submitted  his  opinion  to  the 
judgment  of  the*  church,  that  he  might  not  be 
deemed  a  heretic  after  his  decease  (s). 

X.  John  dying  in  the  year  1334,  new  conten- 
tions  arose  in  the  conclave  between  the  French  x 
and  Italian  cardinals,  about  the  election  of  a  pope ; 
but  towards  the  end  of  the  year  they  chose  James 
Fournier,  a  Frenchman,  and  cardinal  of  St.  Prisca, 
who  took  the  name  of  Benedict  XII.  The 
writers  of  these  times  represent  him  as  a  man  of 
great  probity,  who  was  neither  chargeable  with 
that  avarice,  nor  that  ambition,  that  dishonoured 
so  many  of  his  predecessors  (/).  He  put  an  end 
to  the  papal  quarrel  with  the  emperor  Lewis  : 
and  though  he  did  not  restore  him  to  the  com- 
munion of  the  church,  because  prevented,  as  it 
is  said,  by  the  king  of  France,  yet  he  did  not 
attempt  any  thing  against  him.  He  carefully 
attended  to  the  grievances  of  the  church,  redressed 
them  as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  endeavoured  to 
reform  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  monastic  soci- 
eties, whether  of  the  Mendicant,  or  more  opulent 
orders  ;  and  died  in  the  year  134-2,  while  he  was 
laying  the  most  noble  schemes  for  promoting  a 

(r)  Baluzii  Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  197.  216.221. 
224.  236. 

\jjjjF  (s)  All  this  pope's  heretical  fancies  about  the  Beatific 
Vision  were  nothing  in  comparison  with  a  vile  and  most 
enormous  practical  heresy  that  was  found  in  his  coffers  after 
his  death,  viz.  five  and  twenty  millions  of  florins,  of  which 
there  were  eighteen  in  specie,  and  the  rest  in  plate,  jewels, 
crowns,  mitres,  and  other  precious  baubles,  all  which  he  had 
squeezed  out  of  the  people  and  the  inferior  clergy  during  his 
pontificate.  See  Fleury,  Hist.  Eccles.  livr.  xciv.sect.  xxxix. 

(t)  See  the  Fragmenta  Histor.  Roman,  in  Muratorii  Anti- 
quit.  Ital.  torn.  iii.  p.  275.  — Baluzii  Vit.  Pont.  Avenion.  torn, 
i.  p.  205.  218.  240,  &c.  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn, 
iv.  p.  253. 

Y  2 


324  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    yet  more  extensive  reformation.     In  short,  if  we 
PAIIT  ii.  overl°°k  his   superstition,  the  prevailing  blemish 

of  this  barbarous  age,  it  must  be  allowed  that  he 

was  a  man  of  integrity  and  merit. 

Clement  XI.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  man  of  a  quite 
different  disposition,  Clement  VI.  a  native  of 
France,  whose  name  was  Peter  Roger,  and  who 
was  Cardinal  of  St.  Nereus  and  St.  Achilles,  be- 
fore his  elevation  to  the  pontificate.  Not  to  insist 
upon  the  most  exceptionable  parts  of  this  pon- 
tiff's conduct,  we  shall  only  observe,  that  he  trod 
faithfully  in  the  steps  of  John  XXII.  in  providing 
for  vacant  churches  and  bishoprics,  by  reserving 
to  himself  the  disposal  of  them,  which  showed  his 
sordid  and  insatiable  avarice ;  that  he  conferred 
ecclesiastical  dignities  and  benefices  of  the  highest 
consequence  upon  strangers  and  Italians,  which 
drew  upon  him  the  warm  displeasure  of  the  kings 
of  England  and  France ;  and  lastly,  that  by  re- 
newing the  dissensions  that  had  formerly  subsisted 
between  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  and  the  Roman  see, 
he  displayed  to  the  world  his  excessive  vanity  and 
ambition  in  the  most  odious  colours.  In  the  year 
1345 3  he  assailed  the  emperor  with  his  thundering 
edicts  ;  and  when  he  heard  that  they  were  treat- 
ed by  that  prince  with  the  utmost  contempt,  his 
rage  augmented,  and  he  not  only  threw  out  new 
maledictions,  and  published  new  sentences  of  ex- 
communication against  him,  in  the  year  1346', 
but  also  excited  the  German  princes  to  elect 
Henry  VII.  son  to  Charles  IV.  emperor  in  his 
place.  This  violent  measure  would  infallibly  have 
occasioned  a  civil  war  in  Germany,  had  it  not  been 
prevented  by  the  death  of  Lewis,  in  the  year 
1347-  Clement  did  not  long  survive  him,  for  he 
died  in  the  year  1352,  famous  for  nothing  but  his 
excessive  zeal  for  extending  the  papal  authority, 
and  for  his  having  added  Avignon,  which  he  pur- 
chased of  Joan,  queen  of  Naples,  to  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter. 


CHAP.  u.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

XII.  His  successor  Innocent  VI.  whose  name    CENT. 
was  Stephen  Albert,  was  much  more  remarkable 

ft  •  .  n  -I  .  TT  -r~1  -i  PART     II. 

for  integrity  and  moderation.  He  was  a  Jbrench-  - 
man,  and  before  his  election  had  been  bishop  of  innocent 
Ostia.  He  died  in  the  year  1362,  after  having  y! l 
governed  the  church  ten  years.  His  greatest 
blemish  was,  that  he  promoted  his  relations  with 
an  excessive  partiality,  but  in  other  respects,  he 
was  a  man  of  merit,  and  a  great  encourager  of 
pious  and  learned  men.  He  kept  the  monks 
closely  to  their  duty,  carefully  abstained  from 
reserving  churches,  and  by  many  good  actions, 
acquired  a  great  and  deserved  reputation.  He 
was  succeeded  by  William  Grimoard,  abbot  of 
St.  Victor  at  Marseilles,  who  took  the  name  of 
Urban  V.  and  was  entirely  free  from  all  the 
grosser  vices,  if  we  except  those  which  cannot 
easily  be  separated  from  the  papal  dignity.  This 
pope  being  prevailed  on  by  the  intreaties  of  the 
Romans,  returned  to  Rome  in  the  year  1367, 
but,  in  1370,  he  came  back  to  Avignon,  to  re- 
concile the  differences  that  had  arisen  between  the 
kings  of  England  and  France,  and  died  there  the 
same  year. 

XIII.  He  was  succeeded  by  Peter  Roger,  a  Gregory 
French  ecclesiastic  of  illustrious  descent,  who  as-  XL 
sumed  the  name  of  Gregory  XL   a  man,  who, 
though  inferior  to  his  predecessors  in  virtue,  ex- 
ceeded them  far  in  courage  and  assurance.     In  his 
time,  Italy  in  general,  and  the  city  of  Rome  in 
particular,  was  distressed   with  most    outrageous 

and  formidable  tumults.  The  Florentines  carried 
on  successfully  a  terrible  war  against  the  ecclesias- 
tical state  (u).  Upon  which,  Gregory,  in  hopes 
of  quieting  the  disorders  of  Italy,  and  also  of  re- 

(u}  See  chiefly,  Coluzii  Salutati  Epistola?,  written  in  the 
name  of  the  Florentines,  part  I.  p.  47 — 100.  p.  1*3.  162. 
See  also  Preefat.  ad  part.  II.  p.  xviii,  the  new  Florentine  edi- 
tion by  Laur.  Mehus. 


326  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    covering  the  cities  and  territories  which  had  been 
taken  from  St.  Peter's  patrimony,  transferred  the 

1  r*  A        *  T^  •  T 

papal  seat  from  Avignon  to  Home,  in  the  year 
1.376.  To  this  he  was  in  a  great  measure  deter- 
mined by  the  advice  of  one  Catharine,  a  virgin  of 
Sens,  who,  in  this  credulous  age,  was  thought  to 
be  inspired  with  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  made 
a  journey  to  Avignon  on  purpose  to  persuade  him 
to  take  this  step  (w).  It  was  not,  however,  long 
before  Gregory  repented  that  he  had  followed  her 
advice  ;  for  by  the  long  absence  of  the  popes  from 
Italy,  their  authority  was  reduced  to  such  a  low 
ebb,  that  the  Romans  and  Florentines  made  no 
scruple  to  insult  him  with  the  grossest  abuse, 
which  made  him  resolve  to  return  to  Avignon  ; 
but  before  he  could  execute  his  determination,  he 
was  taken  off  by  death,  in  the  year  1378. 

XIV-    After  the  death    of  Gregory  XL  the 


Romish 
church. 


. 

arises  in  the  cardinal  s  assembled  to  consult  about  choosing  a 

successor,  when  the  people  of  Rome,  fearing  lest 
the  vacant  dignity  should  be  conferred  on  a 
Frenchman,  came  in  a  tumultuous  manner  to  the 
conclave,  and  with  great  clamours,  accompanied 
with  many  outrageous  threatenings,  insisted  that 
an  Italian  should  be  advanced  to  the  popedom. 
The  cardinals,  terrified  by  this  uproar,  imme- 
diately proclaimed  Bartholomew  de  Pregnano, 
who  was  a  Neapolitan,  and  archbishop  of  Bari, 
and  assumed  the  name  of  Urban  VI.  This  new 
pontiff,  by  his  impolite  behaviour,  injudicious  se- 
verity, and  intolerable  arrogance,  had  made  him- 
self many  enemies  among  people  of  all  ranks,  and 
especially  among  the  leading  cardinals.  These 
latter,  therefore,  tired  of  his  insolence,  withdrew 
from  Rome  to  Anagni,  and  from  thence  to  Fondi, 
a  city  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  they 


(w)  See  Longueval,  Hist,  de  1'Eglise  Gallicane,  torn.  xiv. 
p.  159.  192. 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  327 

elected  to  the  pontificate,  Robert,  count  of  Ge-    CENT. 
neva,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  VII.  and 

PAP  T    II 

declared  at  the  same   time,  that  the  election  of 


Urban  was  nothing  more  than  a  mere  ceremony, 
which  they  had  found  themselves  obliged  to  per- 
form, in  order  to  calm  the  turbulent  rage  of  the 
populace.  Which  of  these  two  is  to  be  consi- 
dered as  the  true  and  lawful  pope,  is,  to  this  day, 
matter  of  doubt ;  nor  will  the  records  and  writ- 
ings, alleged  by  the  contending  parties,  enable 
us  to  adjust  that  point  with  any  certainty  (V). 
Urban  remained  at  Rome :  Clement  went  .to 
Avignon  in  France.  His  cause  was  espoused  by 
France  and  Spain,  Scotland,  Sicily,  and  Cyprus, 
while  all  the  rest  of  Europe  acknowledged  Urban 
to  be  the  true  vicar  of  Christ. 

XV.    Thus,  the  union   of  the    Latin   church  its  bad 
under  one  head,  was  destroyed  at  the  death  of sequel 
Gregory  XI.  and  was  succeeded  by  that  deplor- 
able dissension  commonly  known  by  the  name  of 
the  great  western  schism  (;/).      This  dissension 
was   fomented  with    such   dreadful    success,  and 
arose  to  such  a  shameful   height,   that,   for  the 

(x)  See  the  acts  and  documents  in  Cses.  Egass.  de  Boulay, 
Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  463.  s. — Luc.  Wadding.  Annal. 
Minor,  torn.  ix.  p.  12.  s. — Steph.  Baluzii  Vit.  Pontif.  Ave- 
nion.  torn.  i.  p.  442.  998.  s. — Acta  Sanctor.  torn.  i.  April,  p. 
728.  I  have  also  some  documents  never  yet  published, 
which  throw  great  light  upon  this  controversy,  though  they 
do  not  absolutely  determine  the  point  in  dispute. 

(y)  An  account  of  this  dissension  may  be  seen  in  Pierre  du 
Puy,  Histoire  Generale  du  Schisme  qui  a  etc  en  1'Eglise  de- 
puis  1'an  1378  jusqu'en  Tan  1428,  which,  as  we  are  in- 
formed in  the  preface,  was  compiled  from  the  Royal  Re- 
cords of  France,  and  is  entirely  worthy  of  credit.  Nor 
should  we  wholly  reject  Lewis  IVIaimbourg's  Histoire  du 
grand  Schisme  d'Occident,  though  in  general  it  be  deeply 
tainted  with  the  leaven  of  party  spirit.  A  great  many  do- 
cuments are  to  be  met  with  in  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris, 
torn.  iv.  and  v.  and  also  in  Edm.  Martene  Thesaur.  Anecdo- 
tor.  torn.  ii.  p.  1074.  I  always  pass  over  the  common  writers 
upon  this  subject,  such  as  Alexander,  Raynald,  Bzovius, 
Spondanus,  and  Du  Pin. 


con- 


328  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    space  of  fifty  years,  the  church  had  two  or  three 
PART" 1 1   different  heads  at  the  same  time ;    each  of  the 

1  contending  popes  forming  plots,  and  thundering 

out  anathemas  against  their  competitors.  The 
distress  and  calamity  of  these  times  is  beyond  all 
power  of  description  ;  for,  not  to  insist  upon  the 
perpetual  contentions  and  wars  between  the  fac- 
tions of  the  several  popes,  by  which  multitudes 
lost  their  fortunes  and  lives,  all  sense  of  religion 
was  extinguished  in  most  places,  and  profligacy 
arose  to  a  most  scandalous  excess.  The  clergy, 
while  they  vehemently  contended  which  of  the 
reigning  popes  was  the  true  successor  of  Christ, 
were  so  excessively  corrupt,  as  to  be  no  longer 
studious  to  keep  up  even  an  appearance  of  religion 
or  decency  :  and,  in  consequence  of  all  this,  many 
plain  well-meaning  people,  who  concluded  that  no 
one  could  possibly  partake  of  eternal  life,  unless 
united  with  the  vicar  of  Christ,  were  overwhelmed 
with  doubt,  and  plunged  into  the  deepest  dis- 
tress of  mind  (#).  Nevertheless,  these  abuses 
were,  by  their  consequences,  greatly  conducive 
both  to  the  civil  and  religious  interests  of  man- 
kind ;  for,  by  these  dissensions,  the  papal  power 
received  an  incurable  wound ;  and  kings  and 
princes,  who  had  formerly  been  the  slaves  of  the 
lordly  pontiffs,  now  became  their  judges  and 
masters.  And  many  of  the  least  stupid  among 
the  people  had  the  courage  to  disregard  and  de- 
spise the  popes,  on  account  of  their  odious  disputes 
about  dominion,  to  commit  their  salvation  to  God 
alone,  and  to  admit  it  as  a  maxim,  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  church  might  be  maintained,  and 
the  interests  of  religion  secured  and  promoted 
without  a  visible  head,  crowned  with  a  spiritual 
supremacy. 

(z)  Concerning  the  mischievous  consequences  of  this 
schism,  we  have  a  large  account  in  the  Histoire  du  Droit 
public  Eccles.  Francois,  torn.  ii.  p.  166,  193.  202.  s. 


CHAP.  ii.   Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  329 

XVI.  The    Italian   cardinals   attached  to  the    CENT. 
interests  of  Urban  VI.  upon  the  death  of  that     XIV- 
pope,   in  the  year  1 389,  set  up  for  his  successor, . 

at  Rome,  Peter  Thomacelli,  a  Neapolitan,  who  Proposals 
took  the  name  of  Boniface  IX.  and  Clement  f 
VII.  dying  in  the  year  1 394,  the  French  cardi- 
nals  raised  to  the  pontificate  Peter  de  Luna,  a 
Spaniard,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Benedict 
XIII.  During  these  transactions,  various  methods 
were  proposed  and  attempted  for  healing  this 
melancholy  breach  in  the  church.  Kings  and 
princes,  bishops  and  divines,  appeared  with  zeal 
in  this  salutary  project.  It  was  generally  thought 
that  the  best  course  to  be  taken  in  this  matter 
was,  what  they  then  styled  the  Method  of  Cession ; 
but  neither  of  the  popes  could  be  prevailed  on, 
either  by  entreaties  or  threatening^,  to  give  up 
the  pontificate.  The  Gallican  church,  highly  in- 
censed at  this  obstinacy,  renounced  solemnly,  in 
a  council  held  at  Paris,  in  the  year  1 397,  all  sub- 
jection and  obedience  to  both  pontiffs  ;  and,  upon 
the  publication  of  this  resolution,  in  the  year  1 398, 
Benedict  XIII.  was,  by  the  express  orders  of 
Charles  VI.  detained  prisoner  in  his  palace  at 
Avignon  (a). 

XVII.  Some  of  the  popes,  and  especially  Be- The  enor- 
nedict  XII.  were  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  £e  monks, 
prevailing  vices  and  scandalous  conduct  of  the  especially ' 
greatest  part   of  the  monks,  which  they  zealously  Mendi- 
endeavoured  to  rectify  and  remove  :  but  the  dis- cants- 
order  was  too  inveterate  to  admit  of  a  cure.    The 
Mendicants,  and  more  especially  the  Dominicans 

and  Franciscans,  were  at  the  head  of  the  monastic 
orders,  and  were,  indeed,  become  the  heads  of 
the  church ;  so  extensive  was  the  influence  they 

(a)  Besides  the  common  historians,  and  Longueval's  Hi- 
stoire  de  1'Eglise  Gallicane,  torn.  xiv.  see  the  Acts  of  this 
Council,  in  Boulay's  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  829. 


330  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    had  acquired,    that    all    matters    of    importance, 
FART  ii.  both  in  the  court  of  Rome,  and  in  the  cabinets  of 

, princes,  were  carried  on  under  their  supreme  and 

absolute  direction.  The  multitude  had  such  a 
high  notion  of  the  sanctity  of  these  sturdy  beggars, 
and  of  their  credit  with  the  Supreme  Being,  that 
great  numbers  of  both  sexes,  some  in  health, 
others  in  a  state  of  infirmity,  others  at  the  point 
of  death,  earnestly  desired  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Mendicant  order,  which  they  looked  upon  as 
a  sure  and  infallible  method  of  rendering  heaven 
propitious.  Many  made  it  an  essential  part  of 
their  last  wills,  that  their  carcases,  after  death, 
should  be  wrapped  in  old,  ragged  Dominican  or 
Franciscan  habits,  and  interred  among  the  Mendi- 
cants. For  such  was  the  barbarous  superstition 
and  wretched  ignorance  of  this  age,  that  people 
universally  believed  they  should  readily  obtain 
mercy  from  Christ  at  the  day  of  judgment,  if  they 
appeared  before  his  tribunal  associated  with  the 
Mendicant  friars. 

They  fall  XVIII.  The  high  esteem  in  which  the  Mendi- 
"enerai  cant  or^ers  were  held,  and  the  excessive  degree 
odium.  of  authority  they  had  acquired,  only  served  to 
render  them  still  more  odious  to  such  as  had 
hitherto  been  their  enemies,  and  to  draw  upon 
them  new  marks  of  jealousy  and  hatred  from  the 
higher  and  lower  clergy,  the  monastic  societies, 
and  the  public  universities.  So  universal  was  this 
odium,  that  there  were  scarcely  a  province  or 
university  in  Europe,  in  which  bishops,  clergy, 
and  doctors  were  not  warmly  engaged  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  who  em- 
ployed the  power  and  authority  they  had  received 
from  the  popes,  in  undermining  the  ancient  disci- 
pline of  the  church,  and  assuming  to  themselves 
a  certain  superintendence  in  religious  matters. 
In  England,  the  university  of  Oxford  made  a 
resolute  stand  against  the  encroachments  of  the4 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  331 

Dominicans    (&),    while   Richard,    archbishop    of   CENT. 

XIV. 
PART  II. 


Armagh,  Henry  Crump,  Noris,  and  others, 
attacked  all  the  Mendicant  orders,  with  great 
vehemence  and  severity  (c).  But  Richard,  whose 
animosity  against  them  was  much  keener  than 
that  of  their  other  antagonists,  went  to  the  court 
of  Innocent  VI.  in  the  year  1356,  and  there 
vindicated  the  cause  of  the  church  against  them 
with  the  greatest  fervour,  both  in  his  writings 
and  discourse,  until  the  year  1360,  in  which  he 
died  (d).  They  had  also  many  opponents  in 
France,  who,  together  with  the  university  of 
Paris,  were  secretly  engaged  in  contriving  means 
to  overturn  their  exorbitant  power  :  but  John  de 
Polliac  set  himself  openly  against  them,  publicly 
denying  the  validity  of  the  absolution  granted 
by  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  to  those 
who  confessed  to  them,  maintaining,  that  the 
popes  were  disabled  from  granting  them  a  power 
of  absolution  by  the  authority  of  the  canon,  en- 
titled, Omnis  utriusque  sexus  ;  and  proving  from 
these  premises,  that  all  those,  who  would  be  sure 
of  their  salvation,  ought  to  confess  their  sins  to 
their  own  parish  priests,  even  though  they  had 
been  absolved  by  the  monks.  They  suffered  little 
or  nothing,  however,  from  the  efforts  of  these 
numerous  adversaries,  being  resolutely  protected 
against  all  opposition,  whether  open  or  secret, 
by  the  popes,  who  regarded  them  as  their  best 


(b)  See   Ant.  Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  150. 154. 
196,  &c. 

(c)  See  Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  181,  182,  torn, 
ii.  p.  61,  62. — Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  338. 
950. — Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.   Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  336.  Wad- 
dingi  Anna!.  Minor,  torn.  viii.  p.  126. 

(d)  See  Simon,  Lettres  Choisies,  torn.  i.  p.  164. — I  have  in 
my  possession  a  manuscript  treatise  of  Bartholomew  deBrisac, 
entitled,  "  Solutiones  opposite  Ricardi,  Armachani  episcopi, 
propositionibus  contra  Mendicantes  in  curia  Romana  coram 
pontifice  et  cardinalibus  factis,  anno  1360." 


o32  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    friends,  and   most  effectual  supports.       Accord- 
p  fiiJii   *n£ty»  J°^in  XXII.  by  an  extraordinary  decree, 

_J 1  condemned  the  opinions  of  John  de  Polliac,  in  the 

year  1321  (e). 

joim  XIX.  But  among  all  the  enemies  of  the  Men- 

dicant orders,  none  has  been  transmitted  to  pos- 
terity with  more  exalted  encomiums  on  the  one 
hand,  or  blacker  calumnies  on  the  other,  than 
John  Wickliff,  an  English  doctor,  professor  of 
divinity  at  Oxford,  and  afterwards  rector  of  Lut- 
terworth  ;  who,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the 
writers  of  these  times,  was  a  man  of  an  enter- 
prising genius,  and  extraordinary  learning.  In 
the  year  1360,  animated  by  the  example  of 
Richard,  archbishop  of  Armagh,  he  first  of  all 
defended  the  statutes  and  privileges  of  the  univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  against  all  the  orders  of  the  Men- 
dicants, and  had  the  courage  to  throw  out  some 
slight  reproofs  against  the  popes,  their  principal 
patrons,  which  no  true  Briton  ever  imputed  to 
him  as  a  crime.  After  this,  in  the  year  1367,  he 
wras  deprived  of  the  wardenship  of  Canterbury- 
Hall,  in  the  university  of  Oxford,  by  Simon  Lang- 
ham,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  substituted 
a  monk  in  his  place  ;  upon  which  he  appealed  to 
Pope  Urban  V.  who  confirmed  the  sentence  of 
the  archbishop  against  him,  on  account  of  the 
freedom  with  which  he  had  inveighed  against  the 
monastic  orders.  Highly  exasperated  at  this 
treatment,  he  threw  off  all  restraint,  and  not  only 
attacked  all  the  monks,  and  their  scandalous  irre- 
gularities, but  even  the  pontifical  power  itself, 


(e)  See  Jo.Launoius,  De  Canone  :  Omnis  utriusque  Sexus, 
torn.  i.  part  I.  opp.  p.  271.  274-.  287,  £c.— Baluzii  Vit.  Pon- 
tif.  Avenion.  torn.  ii.  p.  10.  et  Miscellaneor.  tom.i.  p.  153. — 
Dacherii  Spicil.  Scriptor.  Veter.  torn.  i.  p.  112.  s. — It  was 
published  by  Edm.  Martene,  in  Thesauro  Anecdotor.  torn.  i. 
p.  1368.  See  also  Baluzii  Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p. 
132.  182,  &c. 


CHAP.  IT.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  333 

and  other  ecclesiastical  abuses,  both  in  his  ser-  CENT. 
mons  and  writings.  From  hence  he  proceeded 
to  yet  greater  lengths,  and,  detesting  the  wretch- 
ed  superstition  of  the  times,  refuted,  with  great 
acuteness  and  spirit,  the  absurd  notions  that  were 
generally  received  in  religious  matters,  and  not 
.only  exhorted  the  laity  to  study  the  scriptures, 
but  also  translated  into  English  these  divine  books, 
in  order  to  render  the  perusal  of  them  more  uni- 
versal. Though  neither  the  doctrine  of  Wickliff 
was  void  of  error,  nor  his  life  without  reproach, 
yet  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the  changes  he 
attempted  to  introduce,  both  in  the  faith  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church,  were,  in  many  respects,  wise, 
useful,  and  salutary 


XX.  The  monks,  whom  Wickliff  had  prin-  His  adver- 
cipally  exasperated,  commenced  a  violent  prose-  sanes' 
cution  against  him  at  the  court  of  Gregory  XI. 
who,  in  the  year  1377,  ordered  Simon  Sudbury, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  affair  in  a  council  held  at  London.  Im- 
minent as  this  danger  evidently  was,  Wickliff 
escaped  it,  by  the  interest  of  the  duke  of  Lanca- 
ster, and  some  other  peers,  who  had  a  high  regard 
for  him.  And  soon  after  the  death  of  Gregory 
XI.  the  fatal  schism  of  the  Romish  church  com- 
menced, during  which  there  was  one  pope  at 
Rome,  and  another  at  Avignon  ;  so  that  of  course 
the  controversy  lay  dormant  a  long  time.  But 
no  sooner  was  this  embroiled  state  of  affairs  tole- 
rably settled,  than  the  process  against  him  was 
revived  by  William  de  Courteney,  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  in  the  year  1385,  and  was  carried 
on  with  great  vehemence  in  two  councils  held  at 


(f}  A  work  of  his  was  published  at  Leipsic  and  Francfort, 
in  4-to,  in  the  year  1753,  entitled,  Dialogorum  Libri  quatuor, 
which,  though  it  does  not  contain  all  the  branches  of  his 
doctrine,  yet  shows  sufficiently  the  spirit  of  the  man,  and  his 
way  of  thinking  in  general. 


334  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.  London  and  Oxford.  The  event  was,  that  of  the 
av-  twenty-three  opinions,  for  which  Wickliff  had 
1  been  prosecuted  by  the  monks,  ten  were  con- 
demned as  heresies,  and  thirteen  as  errors  (g-). 
He  himself,  however,  returned  in  safety  to  Lut- 
terworth,  where  he  died  peaceably  in  the  year 
1387.  This  latter  attack  was  much  more  dan- 
gerous than  the  former ;  but  by  what  means  he 
got  safely  through  it,  whether  by  the  interest  of 
the  court,  or  by  denying  or  abjuring  his  opinions, 
is  to  this  day  a  secret  (A).  He  left  many  fol- 
lowers in  England,  and  other  countries,  who  were 
styled  Wickliffites  and  Lollards,  which  last  was  a 
term  of  popular  reproach  translated  from  the  Fie- 


(g)  In  the  original  Dr.  Mosheim  says,  that,  of 
eighteen  articles  imputed  to  Wickliff,  nine  were  condemned 
as  heresies,  and  fifteen  as  errors.  This  contradiction,  which 
we  have  taken  the  liberty  to  correct  in  the  text,  is  perhaps 
an  oversight  of  the  learned  author,  who  may  have  confounded 
the  eighteen  heresies  and  errors  that  were  enumerated  and 
refuted  by  William  Woodford,  in  a  letter  to  Arundel,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  with  the  twenty-three  propositions 
that  had  been  condemned  by  his  predecessor  Courteney  at 
London,  of  which  ten  were  pronounced  heretical,  and  thir- 
teen erroneous.  See  the  very  curious  collection  of  pieces, 
entitled  Fasciculus  Reruni  Expetendarum  et  Fugiendarum 
Orthuini  Gratii,  published  first  at  Cologn  by  the  compiler,  in 
the  year  1535,  and  afterwards  at  London  in  1690,  with  an 
additional  volume  of  ancient  pieces  and  fragments,  by  the 
learned  Mr.  Edward  Brown.  The  letter  of  Woodford  is  at 
full  length  in  the  first  volume  of  this  collection,  p.  191. 

(k)  We  have  a  full  and  complete  History  of  the  Life  and 
Sufferings  of  John  Wickliff,  published  in  8vo.  at  London,  in 
the  year  1720,  by  Mr.  John  Lewis,  who  also  published,  in 
the  year  1731,  Wickliff's  English  Translation  of  the  New 
Testament  from  the  Latin  Version,  called  the  Vulgate.  This 
translation  is  enriched  with  a  learned  preface  by  the  editor, 
in  which  he  enlarges  upon  the  life,  actions,  and  sufferings,  of 
that  eminent  reformer.  The  pieces,  relative  to  the  contro- 
versies which  were  set  on  foot  by  the  doctrines  of  Wickliff, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  learned  work  of  Wilkins,  entitled  Con- 
cilia Magnae  Britanniae  et  Hibern.  torn.  iii.  p.  1 16.  156. — See 
also  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  450. — Ant. 
Wood,  Antiq.  Oxonien.  torn.  i.  p.  183,  186,  et  passim. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  335 

mish  tongue  into  English.  Wherever  they  could  CENT. 
be  found,  they  were  terribly  persecuted  by  the 
inquisitors,  and  other  instruments  of  papal  venge- 
ance,  and,  in  the  council  of  Constance,  in  the 
year  1415,  the  memory  and  opinions  of  Wickliff 
were  condemned  by  a  solemn  decree  :  and  about 
thirteen  years  after,  his  bones  were  dug  up,  and 
burnt. 


XXI.  Notwithstanding  the  Mendicants  were  The  im- 
thus  vigorously  attacked  on  all  sides,  by  such  a 
considerable  number  of  ingenious  and  learned  ad-  cans, 
versaries,  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  abate 
any  thing  of  their  excessive  pride,  to  set  bounds 
to  their  superstition,  or  to  desist  from  imposing 
upon  the  multitude,  but  were  as  diligent  as  ever 
in  propagating  opinions  highly  detrimental  to  re- 
ligion in  general,  and  particularly  injurious  to  the 
majesty  of  the  Supreme  Being.  The  Franciscans, 
forgetting,  in  their  enthusiastic  frenzy,  the  vene- 
ration they  owed  to  the  Son  of  God,  and  ani- 
mated with  a  mad  zeal  for  advancing  the  glory  of 
their  order  and  its  founder,  impiously  maintained, 
that  the  latter  was  a  second  Christ,  in  all  respects 
similar  to  the  first ;  and  that  their  institu- 
tion and  discipline  was  the  true  gospel  of  Jesus. 
Yet,  shocking  as  these  foolish  and  impious  pre- 
tensions were,  the  popes  were  not  ashamed  to 
patronize  and  encourage  them  by  their  letters 
and  mandates,  in  which  they  made  no  scruple  to 
assert,  that  the  absurd  fable  of  the  stigmas,  or  five 
wounds  impressed  upon  Francis  by  Christ  him- 
self, on  mount  Alvernus,  was  worthy  of  credit, 
because  matter  of  undoubted  fact  (z).  Nor  was 


(i)  The  story  of  the  marks,  or  stigmas,  impressed  on 
Francis,  is  well  known,  as  are  also  the  letters  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs,  which  enjoin  the  belief  of  it,  and  which  Wadding 
has  collected  with  great  care,  and  published  in  his  Annales 


336  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    this  all  ;  for  they  not  only  permitted  to  be  pub- 
XIV*     lished,  without  any  mark  of  their  disapprobation, 

PART  II.     i  T  i 

..  but  approved,  and  even  recommended,  an  im- 
pious piece,  stuffed  with  tales  yet  more  impro- 
bable and  ridiculous  than  either  of  the  above- 
mentioned  fictions,  and  entitled,  The  Book  of 


The  book  the  Conformities  of  St.  Francis  with  Jesus  Christ, 
of  the  con-  which  was  composed,  in  the  year  1383,  by  Bar- 
i°s!  tholomew  Albizi,  a  Franciscan  of  Pisa,  with 
the  applause  of  his  order.  This  infamous  tract, 
in  which  the  Son  of  God  is  put  upon  a  level  with 
a  wretched  mortal,  is  an  eternal  monument  of  the 
outrageous  enthusiasm  and  abominable  arrogance 
of  the  Franciscan  order  ;  and  not  less  so  of  the 


Minorum,  torn.  viii.  et  ix.  The  Dominicans  formerly  made 
a  public  jest  of  this  ridiculous  fable,  but,  being  awed  into 
silence  by  the  papal  bulls,  they  are  now  obliged  to  deride  it 
in  secret,  while  the  Franciscans,  on  the  other  hand,  continue 
to  propagate  it  with  the  most  fervent  zeal.  That  St.  Francis 
had  upon  his  body  the  marks  or  impressions  of  the  five  great 
wounds  of  Christ,  is  not  to  be  doubted,  since  this  is  a  fact 
proved  by  a  great  number  of  unexceptionable  witnesses.  But, 
as  he  was  a  most  superstitious  and  fanatical  mortal,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly evident  that  he  imprinted  on  himself  these  holy 
wounds,  that  he  might  resemble  Christ,  and  bear  about  in  his 
body  a  perpetual  memorial  of  the  Redeemer's  sufferings.  It 
was  customary  in  these  times,  for  such  as  were  willing  to  be 
thought  more  pious  than  others,  to  imprint  upon  their  bodies 
marks  of  this  kind,  that  having  thus  continually  before  them 
a  lively  representation  of  the  death  of  Christ,  they  might 
preserve  a  becoming  sense  of  it  on  their  minds.  The  words 
of  St.  Paul,  Galat.  vi.  17.  were  sufficient  to  confirm  in  this 
wretched  delusion  an  ignorant  and  superstitious  age,  in  which 
the  scriptures  were  neither  studied  nor  understood.  A  long 
list  of  these  stigmatized  fanatics  might  be  extracted  from  the 
Acta  Sanctorum,  and  other  records  of  this  and  the  following 
century:  nor  is  this  ancient  piece  of  superstition  entirely 
abolished,  even  in  our  times.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Fran- 
ciscan monks,  having  found  these  marks  upon  the  dead  body 
of  their  founder,  took  this  occasion  of  making  him  appear  to 
the  world  as  honoured  by  heaven  above  the  rest  of  mortals, 
and  invented,  for  this  purpose,  the  story  of  Christ's  having 
miraculously  transferred  his  wounds  to  him. 


CHAP.  rr.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  337 

excessive  imprudence  of  the  popes,   in  extolling    CENT. 

•-•**•  XIV. 

PART  II. 


and  recommending  it  (/c). 


XXII.  The   Franciscans,  who  adhered  to  the 


genuine  and  austere  rule  of  their  founder,  and  The  enor- 
opposed  the  popes,  who  attempted  to  mitigate 
the  severity  of  its  injunctions,  were  not  a  whit  c 
wiser  than  those  of  the  order,  who  acknowledged 
the  jurisdiction,  and  respected  the  decisions  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs.  By  these  antipapal  Franciscans, 
I  mean  the  Fratricelli^  or  Minorites,  and  the  Ter- 
tiaries  of  that  order,  otherwise  called  Beghards, 
together  with  the  Spirituals,  who  resided  princi- 
pally in  France,  and  embraced  the  opinions  of 
Pierre  d' Olive.  These  monastic  factions  were 
turbulent  and  seditious  beyond  expression  ;  they 
gave  incredible  vexation  to  the  popes,  and  for  a 
long  time  disturbed,  wherever  they  went,  the 
tranquillity  both  of  church  and  state.  About 
the  beginning  of  this  century  (/),  the  less  austere 
Franciscans  were  outrageous  in  their  resentment 
against  the  Fratricelli,  who  had  deserted  their  com- 


(k)  Concerning  Albizi  and  his  book,  see  Wadding.  Annal. 
Minor,  torn.  ix.  p.  158. — J.  A.  Fabricii  Biblioth.  Lat.  Medii 
^Evijtora.  i.  p.  13 1 . — Schelhornii  Amoen.  Litter,  torn.  iii.  p.  160. 
— Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Francis,  and  the  Nouveau 
Dictionnaire  Hist.  Crit.  torn.  i.  at  the  article  Albizi,  p.  217. 
Erasmus  Albert  made  several  extracts  from  this  book,  and 
published  them  under  the  title  of  the  Alcoran  of  the  Francis- 
cans, which  was  frequently  printed  in  Latin,  German,  and 
French  j  and,  in  the  year  1734,  was  published  at  Amsterdam, 
in  two  volumes  8vo.  in  French  and  Latin,  with  elegant  cuts. 

SUP*"  The  Conformities  between  Christ  and  St.  Francis  are 
carried  to  forty,  in  the  book  of  Albizi,  but  they  are  multiplied 
to  4000  by  a  Spanish  monk  of  the  order  of  Observants,  in  a 
book  published  at  Madrid,  in  the  year  1651,  under  the  fol- 
lowing title,  Prodigiosum  Naturae  et  Gratiae  Portentum.  rl  he 
Conformities  mentioned  by  Pedro  de  Alva  Astorga,  the 
austere  author  of  this  most  ridiculous  book,  are  whimsical 
beyond  expression.  See  the  Bibliotheque  des  Sciences  et 
des  Beaux  Arts,  torn.  iv.  p.  318. 

(/)  In  the  years  1306  and  1307. 

VOL.  III.  Z 


338  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  munion  (m)  ;  upon  which,  such  of  the  latter  as 
had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  the  fury  of  their 
persecutors,  retired  into  France,  in  the  year  1 307, 
and  associated  themselves  with  the  spirituals,  or 
followers  of  Pierre  d' Olive,  in  Provence,  who  had 
also  formerly  abandoned  the  society.  Soon  after 
this,  the  whole  Franciscan  order  in  France, 
Italy,  and  other  countries,  was  divided  into  two 
parties.  The  one,  which  embraced  the  severe 
discipline  and  absolute  poverty  of  St.  Francis, 
were  called  Spirituals  ;  the  other,  which  insisted 
upon  mitigating  the  austere  injunctions  of  their 
founder,  were  styled  the  Brethren  of  the  Commu- 
nity. The  latter,  being  by  far  the  most  numerous 
and  powerful,  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost, 
to  oppress  the  former,  whose  faction,  as  yet,  was 
but  weak,  and,  as  it  were,  in  its  infancy ;  but, 
notwithstanding  this,  they  cheerfully  submitted  to 
these  hardships,  rather  than  return  to  the  society 
of  those  who  had  deserted  the  rules  of  their 
master.  Pope  Clement  V.  having  drawn  the 
leaders  of  these  two  parties  to  his  court,  took  great 
pains  to  compose  their  dissensions ;  nevertheless, 
his  pacific  scheme  advanced  but  slowly,  on  account 
of  the  inflexible  obstinacy  of  each  sect,  and 
the  great  number  of  their  mutual  accusations. 
In  the  mean  while,  the  Spirituals  of  Tuscany, 
instead  of  waiting  for  the  decision  of  his  Holiness, 
chose  themselves  a  president,  and  inferior  officers  ; 
while  those  of  France,  being  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Avignon,  patiently  expected  the  papal  deter- 
mination («). 

XXIII.  After  many  deliberations,  Clement  V. 

composing  in  a  general  council  held  at  Vienne,  in  Dauphine, 

the  differ- 
ences (ni)  Waddin^i  Annales  Minor,  torn.  vi.  ad  an.  1307,  p.  91. 
among  the         („)     Waddingi    Annal.   torn.   iv.  1310,    p.  172.— Echardi 
cVns"015'       Corpus   Histor.  Medii  JEvi,  torn.  i.  p.  1480. — Boulay,  Hist. 

Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  129. — Echardi  Scriptor.  Prsedicator. 

torn.  i.  p.  508,  509. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  339 

where  he  issued  out  the  famous  bull,  Exivi  tie  CENT. 
Paradiso  (o),  proposed  an  expedient  for  healing  XIV- 
the  breach  between  the  jarring  parties,  by  wise  ^ 
concessions  on  both  sides.  He  gave  up  many 
points  to  the  Spirituals,  or  rigid  Franciscans,  en- 
joining upon  the  whole  order  the  profession  of 
absolute  poverty,  according  to  their  primitive  rule, 
and  the  solemn  renunciation  of  all  property, 
whether  common  or  personal,  confining  them  to 
what  was  necessary  for  their  immediate  subsist- 
ence, and  allowing  them,  even  for  that,  a  very 
scanty  pittance.  He,  however,  on  the  other  hand, 
permitted  the  Franciscans,  who  lived  in  places 
where  it  was  extremely  difficult  to  procure  by 
begging  the  necessaries  of  life,  to  erect  granaries 
and  storehouses,  where  they  might  deposit  a  part 
of  their  alms  as  a  stock,  in  case  of  want  ;  and 
ordered  that  all  such  granaries  and  storehouses 
should  be  under  the  inspection  and  management  of 
inspectors  and  storekeepers,  who  were  to  determine 
what  quantity  of  provisions  should  be  laid  up  in 
them.  And,  finally,  in  order  to  satisfy  the 
Brethren  of  the  Community,  he  condemned  some 
opinions  of  Pierre  d'  Olive  (/?).  These  proceed- 
ings silenced  the  monastic  commotions  in  France  ; 
but  the  Tuscan  and  Italian  Spirituals  were  so 
exceedingly  perverse  and  obstinate,  that  they  could 
not  be  brought  to  consent  to  any  method  of 
reconciliation.  At  length,  in  the  year  1313,  many 
of  them,  not  thinking  themselves  any  longer  safe 
in  Italy,  went  into  Sicily,  where  they  met  with  a 
very  friendly  reception  from  King  Frederic,  the 
nobility,  and  bishops 


(o)  This  bull  is  inserted  in  the  Jan  Canonicum  inter  Cle- 
mentinas, tit.  xi.  De  Verbor.  Signif.  torn.  ii.  p.  1095.  edit.  Boh- 
meri. 

(p)  Waddingi  Annal.  torn.  vi.  p.  194.  197.  199. 

(q)  Waddingi  Annal.  torn.  vi.  p.  213,  214.  —  Boulay,  Hist. 
Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  152.  165.  —  Argentre,  Collectio  Judi- 
cior.  de  Novis  Error,  torn.  i.  p.  392.  s. 

Z  2 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 
CENT.        XXIV.   Upon  the  death  of  Clement  V.   the 

./&..L  V  * 
PART  II, 


'  t   tumult,  which  had  been  appeased  by  his  autho- 


rity, was  revived  in  France  with  as  much  fury  as 
ever.  For,  in  the  year  1314,  an  hundred  and 
twenty  of  the  Spirituals  made  a  violent  attack 
upon  the  Brethren  of  the  Community,  drove  them 
out  of  the  convents  of  Narbonne  and  Beziers  by 
force  of  arms,  and  inflamed  the  quarrel  in  a  yet 
higher  degree,  by  laying  aside  their  ancient 
habits,  and  assuming  such  as  were  short,  strait,  and 
coarse.  They  were  soon  joined  by  a  consider- 
able number  from  other  provinces,  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Narbonne,  where  Olive  was  interred, 
enlisted  themselves  in  the  party.  John  XXII.  who 
was  raised  to  the  pontificate  in  the  year  1317, 
took  great  pains  to  heal  this  new  disorder.  The 
first  thing  he  did  for  this  purpose,  was  to  publish 
a  special  bull,  by  which  he  ordered  the  abolition 
of  the  Fratricelli,  or  Minorites,  and  their  Tertia- 
ries,  whether  Beguines  or  Beghards,  who  were  a 
body  distinct  from  the  Spirituals  (r).  In  the  next 
place,  he  admonished  the  king  of  Sicily  to  expel 
all  the  Spirituals,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  his 
dominions  (s)  ;  and  then  ordered  the  French  Spi- 
rituals to  appear  at  Avignon ;  where  he  exhorted 
them  to  return  to  their  duty  ;  and,  as  the  first 
step  to  it,  to  lay  aside  their  short,  strait  habits,  with 
the  small  hoods.  The  greatest  part  of  them 
obeyed  ;  but  Fr.  Bernard  Delitiosi,  who  was  the 
head  of  the  faction,  and  twenty-four  of  the  Bre- 
thren, boldly  refused  to  submit  to  the  injunction. 
In  vindication  of  their  conduct,  they  alleged  that 
the  rules  prescribed  by  St.  Francis  were  the  same 
with  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  ;  that  the  popes 
therefore  had  no  authority  to  alter  them  ;  that 

(r)  This  law  is  called  Sancta  Romana,  &c.  and  is  to  be 
found  among  the  Extravagantes  Johannis  XXII.  tit.  vii.  De 
Religiosis  Domibus,  torn.  ii.  Jur.  Canon,  p.  1112. 

(5)  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  265.  s. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  341 

the  popes  had  acted  sinfully  in  permitting  the    CENT. 
Franciscans  to  have  granaries  and   storehouses  ;  PART  n. 

and  that  they  added  to  their  guilt  in  not  allowing 

those  habits  to  be  worn  that  were  enjoined  by  St. 
Francis.  John,  highly  exasperated  by  this  oppo- 
sition, gave  orders  that  these  obstinate  Brethren 
should  be  proceeded  against  as  heretics.  And 
surely  nothing  could  make  them  appear  viler 
heretics  in  the  papal  eye,  than  their  daring  thus 
audaciously  to  oppose  the  authority  and  majesty  of 
the  Roman  see.  As  for  F.  Delitiosi,  who  was  at 
the  head  of  this  sect,  and  who  is  sometimes  called 
Deli  Consi,  he  was  imprisoned,  and  died  in  his 
confinement.  Four  of  his  adherents  were  con- 
demned to  the  flames  in  the  year  1318,  at  Mar- 
seilles (7),  which  odious  sentence  was  accordingly 
executed  without  mercy. 

XXV.  Thus,  these  unhappy  friars,  and  many  The  ridicu- 
more  of  their  fraternity,  who  were  afterwards  cut  p°uutses  l*j  tjie 
off  by  this  cruel  persecution,  suffered  merely  for 
their  contempt  of  the  decisions  of  the  pontiffs, 
and  for  maintaining  that  the  institute  of  St. 
Francis,  their  founder,  which  they  imagined  he 
had  established  under  the  direction  of  an  imme- 
diate inspiration,  was  the  very  Gospel  of  Christ, 
and  therefore  not  to  be  altered  by  the  pope's 
authority.  The  controversy,  considered  in  itself, 
was  rather  ridiculous  than  important,  since  it  did 
not  affect  religion  in  the  least,  but  turned  wholly 
on  these  two  points,  the  form  of  the  habits  to  be 
worn  by  the  Franciscan  order,  and  their  granaries 
and  storehouses.  The  Brethren  of  the  commu- 

(t)  Baluzii  Vitae  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  116.  torn.  ii. 
p.  34-1,  ct  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  195,  272.  Waddingus, 
Aiinal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  267.  s.  316.  s.  Martene,  Thesaur. 
Anecdotor.  tbm.  v.  p.  175.  Martinus  Fuldensis,  in  Eccardi 
Corpore  Histor.  Medii  7Evi,  torn.  i.  p.  1725.  et  Herm.  Cor- 
ncrus,  ibid.  torn.  ii.  p.  981.  Histoire  Generale  de  Langue- 
doc,  torn.  iv.  p.  1/9.  s.  Argentre,  Collcctio  Judicior.  de  Novis 
Errorib.  torn.  i.  p.  294-.  s. 


PART  II. 


840  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  nity,  or  the  less  rigid  Franciscans,  wore  long, 
XIV-  loose,  and  good  habits,  with  ample  hoods ;  but 
the  Spirituals  went  in  strait,  short,  and  very  coarse 
ones,  which  they  asserted  to  be  precisely  the  dress 
enjoined  by  the  institute  of  St.  Francis,  and  what 
therefore  no  power  upon  earth  had  a  right  to 
alter.  And  whereas  the  Brethren  of  the  com- 
munity, immediately  after  the  harvest  and  vintage, 
were  accustomed  to  lay  up  a  stock  of  corn  and 
wine  in  their  granaries  and  cellars,  the  Spiritual 
Franciscans  resolutely  opposed  this  practice,  as 
entirely  repugnant  to  the  profession  of  absolute 
poverty,  that  had  been  embraced  by  the  Fratri- 
celli,  or  Minorites.  In  order  to  put  an  end  to 
these  broils,  pope  John,  this  very  year,  published 
a  long  mandatory  letter,  in  which  he  ordered  the 
contending  parties  to  submit  their  disputes,  upon 
the  two  points  above-mentioned,  to  the  decision  of 
their  superiors  (u). 

XXVI.  The  effects  of  this  letter,  and  of  other 
decrees,  were  prevented  by  the  unseasonable  and 

tions.  impious  severity  of  John  XXII.  whose  cruelty 
was  condemned  and  detested  even  by  his  adhe- 
rents. For  the  Spiritual  Franciscans  and  their 
votaries,  being  highly  exasperated  at  the  cruel 
death  of  their  brethren,  maintained  that  John 
XXII.  by  procuring  the  destruction  of  these  holy 
men,  had  rendered  himself  utterly  unworthy  of 
the  papal  dignity,  and  was  the  true  Antichrist. 
They  moreover  revered  their  four  brethren,  who 
were  burnt  at  Marseilles,  as  so  many  martyrs, 
paying  religious  veneration  to  their  bones  and 
ashes ;  and  inveighed  yet  more  vehemently  than 
ever  against  long  habits,  large  hoods,  granaries, 
and  storehouses.  The  inquisitors,  on  the  other 
hand,  having,  by  the  pope's  order,  apprehended 

(u)  It  may  be  seen  in  the  Jus  Canon,  inter  Extravag. 
Communes  de  Verbor.  Signif.  cap.  i.  See  also  Waddingi 
Anna! .  Minor,  torn,  vi.  p.  273. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  343 

as  many  of  these  people  as  they  could  find,  con-    CENT. 
demned  them  to  the   flames,  and  sacrificed  them  . 

"AK  JL     I  !• 

without  mercy  to  papal  resentment  and  fury.     So 

that  from  this  time  a  vast  number  of  those  zealous 
defenders  of  the  institute  of  St.  Francis,  viz.  the 
Minorites,  Beghards,  and  Spirituals,  were  most 
barbarously  put  to  death,  not  only  in  France,  but 
also  in  Italy,  Spain,  and  Germany  (w>). 

XXVII.  This  dreadful  flame  continued  to  A  new  ais- 
spread  till  it  invaded  the  whole  Franciscan  order,  concern* 
which,  in  the  year  1321,  had  revived  the  old  con-  the  poverty 
tentions  concerning  the  poverty  of  Christ  and  his  of  Chnst* 
apostles.  A  certain  Beguin,  or  monk  of  the  third 
order  of  St.  Francis,  who  was  apprehended  this 
year  at  Narbonne,  taught,  among  other  things, 
"  That  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  ever  pos- 
"  sessed  any  thing,  whether  in  common  or  per- 
"  sonally,  by  right  of  property  or  dominion." 
John  de  Belna,  an  inquisitor  of  the  Dominican 
order,  pronounced  this  opinion  erroneous  ;  but 
Berengarius  Taloni,  a  Franciscan,  maintained  it 
to  be  orthodox,  and  perfectly  consonant  to  the  bull, 
Exiit  qui  seminet,  of  Nicolas  III.  The  judgment 
of  the  former  was  approved  by  the  Dominicans ; 
the  determination  of  the  latter  was  adhered  to  by 
the  Franciscans.  At  length  the  matter  was 
brought  before  the  pope,  who  prudently  endea- 
voured to  put  an  end  to  the  dispute.  With  this 
view  he  called  into  his  council  Ubertinus  de  Ca- 

(w)  Besides  many  other  pieces  that  serve  to  illustrate  the 
intricate  history  of  this  persecution,  I  have  in  my  possession 
a  treatise,  entitled,  Martyrologium  Spiritualium  et  Fratricel- 
lorum,  which  was  delivered  to  the  tribunal  of  the  inquisition 
at  Carcassone,  A.  D.  1454.  It  contains  the  names  of  an 
hundred  and  thirteen  persons  of  both  sexes,  who,  from  the 
year  1318  to  the  time  of  Innocent  VI.  were  burnt  in  France 
and  Italy,  for  their  inflexible  attachment  to  the  poverty  of 
St.  Francis.  I  reckon,  that  from  these  and  other  records, 
published  and  unpublished,  we  may  make  out  a  list  of  two 
thousand  martyrs  of  this  kind.  Compare  Codex  Inquis. 
Tholosanae,  a  Limborchio  editus,  p.  298.  302.  319.  327,  &c. 


344  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    sails,  the  patron  of  the  Spirituals,  and  a  person  of 
xiv.  ,  great  weight  and  reputation.    This  eminent  monk 

_j  _  1  gave  captious,  subtile,  and  equivocal  answers  to 
the  questions  that  were  proposed  to  him.  The 
pontiff,  however,  and  the  cardinals,  persuaded  that 
his  decisions,  equivocal  as  they  were,  might  con- 
tribute to  terminate  the  quarrel,  acquiesced  in 
them,  seconded  them  with  their  authority,  and 
enjoined,  at  the  same  time,  silence  and  moderation 
on  the  contending  parties  (V). 

XXVIII.  But  the  Dominicans  and  Francis- 
cans were  so  exceedingly  exasperated  against  each 
other,  that  they  could  by  no  means  be  brought  to 
conform  themselves  to  this  order.  John  XXII. 
perceiving  this,  pennitted  them  to  renew  the  con- 
troversy in  the  year  1322  ;  nay,  he  himself  pro- 
posed to  some  of  the  most  celebrated  divines  of 
the  age,  and  especially  to  those  of  Paris,  the  de- 
termination of  this  point,  viz.  "  Whether  or  no 
-"  those  were  to  be  deemed  heretics,  who  main- 
"  tained  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  apostles  had  no 
"  common  or  personal  property  in  any  thing  they 
"  possessed  ?"  The  Franciscans,  who  held  an  as- 
sembly this  year  at  Perugia,  having  got  notice  of 
this  proceeding,  unanimously  decreed,  that  those 
who  held  this  tenet  were  not  heretics,  but  main- 
tained an  opinion  that  was  holy  and  orthodox, 
and  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  decisions  and  man- 
dates of  the  popes.  They  also  sent  a  deputy  to 
Avignon,  to  defend  this  unanimous  determination 
of  their  whole  order  against  all  opponents  what- 
ever. The  person  they  commissioned  for  this  pur- 
pose was  F.  Bonagratia,  of  Bergamo,  who  also 
went  by  the  name  of  Boncortese  (#),  one  of  their 


(x)  Wadding!  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  361.  Steph.  Ba- 
luzii  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  307.  Gerh.  du  Bois,  Histor.  Ec- 
cles.  Paris,  p.  611.  s. 

(y)  I  insert  this  caution,  because  I  have  observed  that 
some  eminent  writers,  by  not  attending  to  this  circumstance, 
have  taken  these  two  names  for  two  different  persons. 


CHAP.  ii.   Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  345 

fraternity,  and  a  man  famous   for  his  extensive    CENT. 

XIV. 
PART  II. 


learning.  John  XXII.  being  highly  incensed  at 
this  step,  issued  out  a  decree  in  the  month  of 
November,  wherein  he  espoused  an  opinion  dia- 
metrically opposite  to  that  of  the  Franciscans, 
and  pronounced  them  heretics,  for  obstinately 
maintaining  "  that  Christ  and  his  apostles  had  no 
"  common  or  personal  property  in  what  they 
"  possessed,  nor  a  power  of  selling  or  alienating 
"  any  part  of  it."  Soon  after,  he  proceeded  yet 
farther,  and  in  another  constitution,  published  in 
December  following,  exposed  the  weakness  and 
inefficacy  of  those  arguments^  commonly  deduced 
from  a  bull  of  Nicolas  III.  concerning  the  pro- 
perty of  the  Franciscan  possessions  being  trans- 
ferred to  the  church  of  Rome,  whereby  the  monks 
were  supposed  to  be  deprived  of  what  we  call 
right,  and  were  only  allowed  the  simple  use  of 
what  was  necessary  for  their  immediate  support. 
In  order  to  confute  this  plea,  he  showed  that  it  was 
absolutely  impossible  to  separate  right  and  property 
from  the  lawful  use  of  such  things  as  were  imme- 
diately consumed  by  that  use.  He  also  solemnly 
renounced  all  property  in  the  Franciscan  effects, 
which  had  been  reserved  to  the  church  of  Rome, 
by  former  popes,  their  churches,  and  some  other 
things  excepted.  And  whereas  the  revenues  of 
the  order  had  been  hitherto  received  and  admini- 
stered by  procurators,  on  the  part  of  the  Roman 
church,  he  dismissed  these  officers,  and  abolished 
all  the  decrees  of  his  predecessors,  and  all  the 
ancient  constitutions  relating  to  this  affair  (z). 

(z)  These  constitutions  are  recorded  in  the  Corpus  Juris 
Canon,  and  also  among  the  Extravagantes,  tit.  xiv.  de  Verbor. 
Signific.  cap.  ii.  iii.  p.  1121.  Concerning  the  transaction 
itself,  the  reader  should  chiefly  consult  that  impartial  writer, 
Alvarus  Pelagius,  De  Planctu  Ecclesiae,  lib.  ii.  c.  60.  s.  145. 
as  also  Luc.  Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  394.  s. 
Each  of  them  blames  John  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn, 
iv.  p.  191.  s. 


346  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XXIX.  By  this    method  of  proceeding,    the 
PART  ii  dexterous  pontiff  entirely  destroyed  that  boasted 

expropriation,    which   was    the   main  bulwark  of 

The  quarrel  the  Franciscan  order,  and  which  its  founder  had 
tbe^raneis-  esteemed  the  distinguishing  glory  of  the  society, 
cans  and  ft  was  therefore  natural,  that  these  measures 
xxii.  should  determine  the  Franciscans  to  an  obstinate 
resistance.  And  such  indeed  was  the  effect  they 
produced ;  for,  in  the  year  1 323,  they  sent  their 
brother  Bonagratia,  in  quality  of  legate,  to  the 
papal  court,  where  he  vigorously  and  openly 
opposed  the  latter  constitution  of  John,  boldly 
affirming  that  it  was  contrary  to  all  law,  both 
human  and  divine  (#).  The  pope,  on  the  other 
hand,  highly  exasperated  against  this  audacious 
defender  of  the  Franciscan  poverty,  threw  him 
into  prison ;  and,  by  a  new  edict,  which  he  pub- 
lished about  the  end  of  the  year,  enacted,  that 
all  who  maintained  that  Christ  and  his  apostles 
had  no  common  or  special  property  in  any  of 
their  possessions,  should  be  deemed  heretics,  and 
corrupters  of  the  true  religion  (&).  Finding, 
however,  that  the  Franciscans  were  not  terrified 
in  the  least  by  this  decree,  he  published  another 
yet  more  flaming  constitution,  about  the  end  of 
the  year  1324,  in  which  he  confirmed  his  former 
edicts,  and  pronounced  that  tenet  concerning  the 
expropriation  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  a  pesti- 
lential, erroneous,  damnable,  and  blasphemous 
doctrine,  subversive  of  the  catholic  faith  ;  and  de- 
clared all  such  as  adhered  to  it,  obstinate  heretics, 


(a)  Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vii.  p.  2.  22. — Avar. 
Pelagius,  de  Planctu  Ecclesiae,  lib.  ii.  s.  167. — Trithemius, 
Annal.  Hirsaug.  torn.  ii.  p.  157. — Theod.  de  Nien.  in  Ec- 
cardi  Corpore  Histor.  Med.  J£vi,  torn.  vii.  p.  1491. 

(b]  Waddingi  torn.  vii.  p.  36. — Contin.  de  Nangis,  in  Da- 
cherii  Spicilegio,  torn.  iii.  p.  83. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris, 
torn.  iv.  p.  205. — Benedictinor.  Gallia  Christiana,  torn.  ii.  p. 
1515. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  347 


and  rebels  against  the  church  (c).    In  consequence 

of  this  merciles-s  decree,  great  numbers  of  those  PART  ,,. 

who  persisted  in  asserting   that    Christ   and   his  — 

apostles  were  exactly  such  Mendicants  as  Francis 

would  have  his  brethren  to  be,  were  apprehended 

by  the  Dominican  inquisitors,  who  were  implaca- 

ble enemies  of  the  Franciscans,  and  committed  to 

the  flames.      The  history  of  France  and  Spain, 

Italy  and  Germany,  during  this  and  the  following 

century,  abounds  with  instances  of  this  deplorable 

cruelty. 

XXX.  The  zealous  pontiff  pursued  this  affair  The  at- 
with  great  warmth  for  several  years  successively  ;  iJ^Fran^. 
and  as  this  contest  seemed  to  have  taken  its  rise  ciscans 
from  the  books  of  Pierre  d'Olive,  he  branded 
with  infamy,  in  the  year  1325,  the  Postilla,  and 
the  other  writings  of  that  author,  as  pernicious 
and  heretical  (d).  The  next  step  he  took,  was 
to  summon  to  Avignon  some  of  the  more  learned 
and  eminent  brethren  of  the  Franciscan  order,  of 
whose  writings  and  eloquence  he  was  the  most 
apprehensive,  and  to  detain  them  at  his  court  ; 
and  then,  to  arm  himself  against  the  resentment 
and  indignation  of  this  exasperated  society,  and 
to  prevent  their  attempting  any  thing  to  his  pre- 
judice, he  kept  a  strict  guard  over  them  in  all 
places,  by  means  of  his  friends  the  Dominicans. 
Michael  de  Csesenas,  who  resided  in  Italy,  and 
was  the  head  of  the  order,  could  but  ill  dissemble 
the  hatred  he  had  conceived  against  the  pope, 
who  therefore  ordered  him  to  repair  to  Avignon, 
in  the  year  1327,  and  there  deprived  him  of  his 

(c)  This  constitution,  as  well  as  the  two  former  already 
mentioned,  is  published  among  the  Extrayagantes,  tit.  xiv. 
De  Verbor.  Signif.     Waddingus,  tonu  vii.  p.  36.  vigorously 
opposes  this  last,  which  is  pretty  extraordinary  in  a  man 
so  immoderately  attached  to  the  cause  of  the  popes  as  he 
was. 

(d)  Waddingi   Annal.  torn.  vii.  p.  47.  —  Jo.  Georg.  Ec- 
eardi  Corpus  Histor.  Medii  M\i,  torn.  i.  p.  592,  and  1491. 


PART 


348  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  office  (e).  But,  prudent  as  this  violent  measure 
'u  might  appear  at  first  sight,  it  served  only  to  in- 
—  flame  the  enraged  Franciscans  more  than  ever, 
and  to  confirm  them  in  their  attachment  to  the 
scheme  of  absolute  poverty.  For  no  sooner  did 
the  bitter  and  well-known  contest  between  John 
XXII.  and  the  emperor  Lewis  of  Bavaria,  break 
out,  than  the  principal  champions  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan cause,  such  as  Marsilius  of  Padua,  and 
Jo.  de  Janduno,  or  Genoa,  fled  to  the  emperor, 
and  under  his  protection  published  the  most  viru- 
lent pieces  imaginable,  in  which  they  not  only 
attacked  John  personally,  but  also  levelled  their 
satires  at  the  power  and  authority  of  the  popes  in 
general  (jQ.  This  example  was  soon  followed 
by  others,  particularly  by  Mich.  Cassenas,  and 
William  Occam,  who  excelled  most  men  of  his 
time  in  subtilty  and  acuteness  of  genius,  and  also 
by  F.  Bonagratia,  of  Bergamo.  They  made 
their  escape  by  sea  from  Avignon,  in  the  year 
1327,  went  first  to  the  emperor,  who  was,  at  that 
time,  in  Italy,  and  from  thence  proceeded  to 
Munich.  They  were  soon  joined  by  many  others, 
such  as  Berengarius,  Francis  de  Esculo,  and 
Henry  de  Halem,  who  were  highly  and  deser- 
vedly esteemed,  on  account  of  their  eminent  parts 
and  extensive  learning  (g-).  All  these  learned 


(e}  Waddingi  Annal.  torn  vii.  p.  69.  74<. 

(f)  Luc.  Dacherii  Spicilegium,  torn.  iii.  p.  85.  s.    Bullar. 
Roman,  torn.  vi.  p.  167.  Edm.  Martene,  Thesaur.  Anecdotor. 
torn.  ii.  p.  695.  704.     Boulay,  Histor.   Acad.   Paris,  torn.  iv. 
p.  216.     There  is  a  very  noted  piece  on  this  subject  written 
by  Marsilius  of  Padua,  who  was  professor  at  Vienna,  which 
was  published  in  8vo.  at  Francfort,  by  Franc.  Gomarus,  1592, 
and  is  entitled,  Defensor  pro  Ludovico    Bavaro   adversus 
usurpatam  Romani  Pontificis  jurisdictionem. 

(g)  Waddingi  Annal.  torn.  vii.  p.  81. — Martene,  Thesaur. 
Anecdotor.  torn.  ii.  p.   749.  757.  s.  781. — Trithemii  Annal. 
Hirsaug.  torn.  ii.  p.  167. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn,  iv 
p.  217.  Eccardi  Corpus  Histor.  Medii  ^Evi,  torn.  ii.  p.  1034. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  349 

fugitives  defended  the  institute  of  their  founder  CENT. 
in  long  and  laboured  treatises,  in  which  they  re- 
duced  the  papal  dignity  and  authority  within  a 
very  narrow  compass,  and  loaded  the  pontiffs  with 
reproaches  and  invectives.  Occam  surpassed  them 
all  in  the  keenness  and  spirit  of  his  satire  ;  and 
hence  his  Dialogues,  together  with  his  other  pro- 
ductions, which  were  perused  with  avidity,  and 
transmitted  down  to  succeeding  generations,  gave, 
as  it  were,  a  mortal  blow  to  the  ambition  and  ma- 
jesty of  the  Roman  pontiffs. 

XXXI.    On    the    other    hand,    the   emperor,  Lewis  of 
Lewis   of  Bavaria,   to   express   his   gratitude   toJJjJJJ* 
these  his  defenders,  not  only  made  the  cause  of  the  patron 
the  Franciscans  his  own,   but  also  adopted  their  ^ncis- 
favourite    sentiment    concerning  the    poverty   ofeans. 
Christ  and  his  apostles.     For  among  the  heresies 
and   errors   of    which   he  publicly  accused  John 
XXII.  and  for  which  he   deprived  him    of   the 
pontificate,    the   principal   and    most    pernicious 
one,  in  the  opinion  of  the  emperor,  was  his  main- 
taining that  the  poverty  of  Christ  did  not  exclude 
all  right  and  property  in  what  he  used  as  a  sub- 
sistence (Ji).       The    Fratricelli,  <  Beghards,    Be- 
guines,  and  Spirituals,  then  at  variance  with  the 
pope,  were  effectually  protected  by  the  emperor, 
in  Germany,  against  the  attempts  of  the  inquisi- 
tors ;  so  that,  during  his  reign,  that  country  was 
overrun  with  shoals  of  Mendicant  friars.     There 
was  scarce  a  province  or  city  in  the  empire  that 
did  not  abound   with    Beghards  and   Beguines ; 
that   is,    monks  professing  the  third  rule  of  St. 
Francis,  and  who  placed  the  chief  excellence  of  the 


— Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  293.  315.— The  reader  may 
also  consult  those  writers  who  have  compiled  Indexes  and 
Collections  of  Ecclesiastical  Historians. 

(h)  See  Processus  Ludovici  contra  Johannem  a.  1328.  d. 
12  Dec.  datus,  in  Baluzii  Miscellaneis,  torn.  ii.  p.  522.  and 
also  his  Appellatio,,  p.  4-94. 


350  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    Christian  life  in  a  voluntary  and  absolute  pover- 

ty  (*)'  ^e  I^ominicalls>  on  tne  other  hand,  as 
enemies  to  the  Franciscans,  and  friends  to  the  pope, 
were  treated  with  great  severity  by  his  imperial 
majesty,  who  banished  them  with  ignominy  out 
of  several  cities 


Peace  is  XXXII.  The  rage  of  the  contending  parties 
t7edenlth"e  subsided  greatly  from  the  year  1329.  The  pope 
Franciscans  caused  a  diet  of  the  Franciscans  to  be  held  that 
pope^6  Year  at  Paris>  where,  by  means  of  Cardinal  Ber- 
trand,  who  was  president  of  the  assembly,  and 
the  Parisian  doctors,  who  were  attached  to  his 
interests,  he  so  far  softened  the  resentment  of  the 
greatest  part  of  the  brethren,  that  they  ceased 
to  defend  the  conduct  of  Michael  Cassenas  and 
his  associates,  and  permitted  another  president, 
Gerard  Oddo,  to  be  substituted  in  his  room. 
They  also  acknowledged  John  to  be  a  true  and 
lawful  pope  ;  and  then  terminated  the  dispute 
concerning  the  poverty  of  Christ  in  such  an 
ambiguous  manner,  that  the  constitutions  and 
edicts  of  Nicholas  III.  and  John  XXII.  however 
contradictory,  maintained  their  authority  (/). 
But,  notwithstanding  these  pacific  and  mutual 
concessions,  there  were  great  numbers  of  the 
Franciscans  in  Germany,  Spain,  and  Italy,  who 
would  by  no  means  consent  to  this  reconciliation. 
After  the  death  of  John,  Benedict  XII.  and 
Clement  VI.  took  great  pains  to  close  the  breach, 
and  showed  great  clemency  and  tenderness  to- 
wards such  of  their  order  as  thought  the  insti- 
tute of  their  founder  more  sacred  than  the  papal 

(i)  I  have  many  pieces  upon  this  subject  that  v/ere  never 
published. 

(k)  Mart.  Diffendbach,  De  Mortis  Genere  quo  Henricus 
VII.  obiit,  p.  145.  and  others.  —  Eccardi  Corpus  Histor.Medii 
j?Evi,  torn.  i.  p.  2103.  —  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv. 
p.  220. 

(I)  Wadding!  Annales,  torn.  vii.  p.  94-.  —  Dacberii  Spicile- 
gium,  torn.  iii.  p.  91. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

bulls.     This  lenity  had  some  good  effects.     Many    CENT. 
who  had  withdrawn  themselves  from  the  society,  PAVr'ir. 
were  hereby  induced  to  return   to  it,  in  which  - 
number  were  Francis  de  Esculo,  and  others,  who 
had  been  some  of  John's  most   inveterate  ene- 
mies (jii).     Even  those  who  would    not  be   pre- 
vailed on  to  return  to  their  order,  ceased  to  insult 
the  popes,  observed  the  rules  of  their  founder  in 
a  quiet  and  inoffensive  manner,  and  would  have 
no   sort   of  connection  with  those  Fratricelli  and 
Tertiaries   in   Italy,    Spain,    and  Germany,   who 
contemned  the  papal  authority  (n). 

XXXIII.  The  German  Franciscans,  who  were  The  dis- 
protected  by  the  emperor  Lewis,  held  out  their  gpf^*^116 
opposition  much  longer  than  any  of  the  rest.  Beghards, 
But,  in  the  year  1347,  their  imperial  patron  being  Germany. 
dead,  the  halcyon  days  of  the  Franciscan  Spiri- 
tuals, as  also  of  their  associates  the  Beghards,  or 
Tertiaries,  were  at  an  end  in  Germany.  For  in 
the  year  1345,  his  successor  Charles  IV.  having 
been  raised  to  the  imperial  throne  by  the  interest 
of  the  pope,  was  ready,  in  his  turn,  to  gratify  the 
desires  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  accordingly  sup- 
ported, both  by  his  edicts  and  by  his  arms,  the  in- 
quisitors who  were  sent  by  the  Roman  pontiff 
against  his  enemies,  and  suffered  them  to  appre- 
hend and  put  to  death  all  of  these  enemies  that 
came  within  their  reach.  These  ministers  of  papal 
vengeance  exerted  their  power  chiefly  in  the  district 
of  Magdeburg  and  Bremen,  Thuringia,  Saxony, 
and  Hesse,  where  they  extirpated  all  the  Beghards, 
as  well  as  the  Beguines,  or  Tertiaries,  the  associates 
of  those  Franciscans,  who  held  that  Christ  and 
his  apostles  had  no  property  in  any  thing.  These 
severe  measures  were  approved  by  Charles  IV. 


(m)  Argentre,  Collectio  Judicior.  de  Novis  Erroribus, 
torn.  i.  p.  343. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  281- — 
Waddingi  Annal.  torn.  vii.  p.  313. 

(;?.)  Wadding!  Annal.  torn.  vii.  p.  116. 126. — Argentre,  1.  c. 
torn.  i.  p.  343,  &c. 


352  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    who  then  resided  in  Italy,  at  Lucca,  from  whence, 


PART  i.  tne  year  1^69,  he  issued  out  severe  edicts, 
-  commanding  all  the  German  princes  to  extirpate 
out  of  their  dominions  the  Beghards  and  Be- 
guines,  or,  as  he  himself  interpreted  the  name,  the 
voluntary  beggars  (o),  as  enemies  of  the  church 
and  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  to  assist  the  inqui- 
sitors in  their  proceedings  against  them.  By  an- 
other edict,  published  not  long  after,  he  gave  the 
houses  of  the  Beghards  to  the  tribunal  of  the  in- 
quisition, ordering  them  to  be  converted  into 
prisons  for  heretics  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  or- 
dered all  the  effects  of  the  Beguines  to  be  sold  pub- 
licly, and  the  profits  arising  from  thence  to  be 
equally  divided  between  the  inquisitors,  the  magi- 
strates, and  the  poor  of  those  towns  and  cities  where 
such  sale  should  be  made  (p).  The  Beghards,  being 
reduced  to  great  straits,  by  this,  and  other  man- 
dates of  the  emperor,  and  by  the  constitutions  of 
the  popes,  sought  a  refuge  in  those  provinces  of 
Switzerland  that  border  upon  the  Rhine,  and  also 
in  Holland,.  Brabant,  and  Pomerania  (</).  But 

(o)  In  high  Dutch,  Die  wilgen  Armen. 

(p)  I  have  in  my  possession  this  edict,  with  other  laws  of 
Charles  IV.  enacted  on  this  occasion,  as  also  many  of  the 
papal  constitutions,  and  other  records  which  illustrate  this 
affair,  and  which  undoubtedly  deserve  to  see  the  light.  It  is 
certain,  that  Charles  IV.  himself,  in  his  edicts  and  mandates, 
clearly  characterizes  those  people,  whom  he  there  styles 
Beggards  and  Beguines,  as  Franciscan  Tertiaries,  belong- 
ing to  that  party  of  the  order  then  at  variance  with  the  pope. 
"  They  are  (to  use  the  emperor's  own  words,  in  his  edict 
issued  out  at  Lucca,  and  bearing  date  the  16th  of  June, 
1369)  a  pernicious  sect,  who  pretend  to  a  sacrilegious  and 
heretical  poverty,  and  who  are  under  a  vow,  that  they  nei- 
ther ought  to  have,  nor  will  have  any  property,  whether 
special  or  common,  in  the  goods  they  use,"  (this  is  the  po- 
verty of  the  Franciscan  institute,  which  John  XXII.  so 
strenuously  opposed)  "  which  they  extend  even  to  their 
wretched  habits/'  —  For  so  the  spirituals  and  their  associates 
used  to  do. 

(q)  See  Odor  Raynaldus,  Annal.  Eccles.  ad  a.  1372.  sect. 
xxxiv.  p.  513.  See  also  the  books  of  Felix  Maleolus,  written 
in  the  following  century  against  the  Beghards  in  Switzerland. 


CHAP.  IT.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  353 

the  edicts  and  mandates  of  the  emperor,  together    CENT. 
with   the   papal   bulls    and   inquisitors,    followed  P^^'U 
them  wherever  they  went,  and  distressed  them  in 
their  most  distant  retreats  j  so  that,  during  the 
reign  of  Charles  IV.  the  greatest  part  of  Ger- 
many (Switzerland,  and  those  provinces  that  are 
contiguous  to  it,  excepted)  was  thoroughly  purged 
of  the  Beghards,  or  rebellious  Franciscans,  both 
perfect  and  imperfect. 

XXXIV.  But  neither  edicts,  bulls,  nor  inquisi-  Their  divi- 
tors,   could  entirely  pluck  up  the  roots  of  this 
inveterate  discord.     For  so  ardently  were  many 
of  the  brethren  bent  upon  observing,  in  the  most  pr 
perfect  and  rigorous  manner,  the  institute  of  St.  ings,  that 
Francis,  that  numbers  were  to  be  found  in  all 
places,  who  either  withstood  the  president  of  the  is  split  into 
society,  or  at  least  obeyed  him  with  reluctance,  doable 
At  once,  therefore,  to  satisfy  both  the  laxer  and  parties. 
more  rigid  party,  after  various  methods  had  been 
tried  to  no  purpose,  a  division  of  the  order  was 
agreed  to.     Accordingly,  in  the  year  1368,  the 
president     consented    that    Paulutius    Fulginas, 
who  was  the  chief  of  the  more  rigid  Franciscans 
in  Italy,  together  with  his  associates,  who  were 
pretty  numerous,  should  live  separately  from  the 
rest  of  the  brethren,  according  to  the  rules  and 
customs  they  had  adopted,  and  follow  the  insti- 
tutes of  their  founder  in  the  strictest  and  most 
rigorous  manner.   The  Spirituals,  and  the  followers 
of  Olive,   whose  scattered  remains  were  yet  ob- 
servable in  several  places,  joined  themselves  gra- 
dually and  imperceptibly  to  this  party.     And  as 
the  number  of  those  who  were  fond  of  the  severer 
discipline  continually  increased  in  many  provinces, 
the  popes  thought  proper  to  approve  that  insti- 
tute, and  to  give  it  the  solemn  sanction  of  their 
authority.    In  consequence  of  this,  the  Franciscan 
order  was  divided  into  two  large  bodies,    which 
subsist  to  this  day ;  viz.  the  Conventual  Brethren, 

VOL.  in.  A  A 


354  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and  the  Brethren  of  the  Observation.     Those  who 


PART  ii.  £ave  UP  t^ie  str*ct  sense  °^  ^ie  expressions  in 
„  _  1  which  the  institute  of  their  founder  was  conceived, 
and  adopted  the  modifications  that  were  given  of 
them  by  the  pontiffs,  were  called  by  the  former 
name  ;  and  the  council  of  Constance  conferred  the 
latter  upon  those  who  chose  to  be  determined  by 
the  words  of  the  institute  itself,  rather  than  by 
any  explications  of  it  (r).  But  the  Fratricelli, 
together  with  the  Beghards,  whom  we  have  fre- 
quently had  occasion  to  mention,  absolutely  rejected 
this  reconciliation,  and  persisted  in  disturbing  the 
peace  of  the  church  during  this  and  the  following 
century,  in  the  marquisate  of  Ancona,  and  in 
other  places. 
New  reiigi-  XXXV.  This  century  gave  rise  to  other  reli- 

ous  orders         .  ...  /•       i  •    i  i  /»     i 

are  found-  gious  societies,  some  or  which  were  but  of  short 
ed-  -  duration,  and  the  rest  never  became  famous. 
John  Colombini,  a  nobleman  of  Sienna,  founded, 
in  the  year  1368,  the  order  of  the  Apostolic  Clercs  ; 
who,  because  they  frequently  pronounced  the 
name  of  Jesus,  were  afterwards  called  Jesuates. 
This  institution  was  confirmed  by  Urban  V.  the 
following  year,  and  subsisted  till  the  last  cen- 
tury, when  it  was  abolished  by  Clement  IX  (s). 
The  brethren  belonging  to  it  professed  poverty, 
and  adhered  to  the  institute  of  St.  Augustin. 
They  were  not,  however,  admitted  to  holy  orders, 
but  assisted  the  poor  by  their  prayers,  and  other 
pious  offices,  and  prepared  medicines  for  them, 
which  they  distributed  gratis  (/).  But  these  sta- 
tutes were  in  a  manner  abrogated  when  Clement 
dissolved  the  order. 


(r)  See  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  viii.  p.  209.  298. 
326.  336.  torn.  ix.  p.  59.  65.  78,  &c. 

(s)  In  the  year  1668. 

(t)  Hipp.  Helyot,  Hist,  des  Ordres,  torn.  iii.  p.  4.11.  s. — 
Franc.  Pagi  Breviar.  Pontif.  torn.  iv.  p.  189.  s. — Bonnani, 
and  others,  who  have  compiled  histories  of  the  religious  orders 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  355 

XXXVI.  Soon  after  the  commencement  of  this    CENT. 
century,  the  famous  sect  of  the  Cellite  Brethren 
and    Sisters   arose  at   Antwerp  ;  they  were   also 


styled  the  Alexian  Brethren  and  Sisters,  because  The  ***  of 
St.  Alexius  was  their  patron  ;  and  they  were  named  Brethren6 
Cellites,  from  the  cells  in  which  they  were  used  ^d  sisters- 
to  live.     As  the  clergy  of  this  age  took  little  care  iaraes.  ° 
of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  deserted  such  as  were 
infected  with  those   pestilential   disorders   which 
were  then  very  frequent,  some  compassionate  and 
pious  persons  at  Antwerp  formed  themselves  into 
a  society  for  the  performance  of  those  religious 
offices  which  the  sacerdotal  orders  so  shamefully 
neglected.      Pursuant   to   this    agreement,    they 
visited  and  comforted  the  sick,  assisted  the  dying 
with  their  prayers  and  exhortations,  took  care  of 
the  interment  of  those  who  were  cut  off  by  the 
plague,    and    on   that   account   forsaken   by   the 
affrighted   clergy,    and   committed   them   to  the 
grave  with  a  solemn  funeral  dirge.     It  was  with 
reference    to    this  last  office    that   the   common 
people  gave  them  the  name  of  Lollards  (w).     The 


(w)  Many  writers  have  given  us  large  accounts  concerning 
the  sect  and  name  of  the  Lollards,  yet  none  of  them  are  to  be 
commended  for  their  fidelity,  diligence,  or  accuracy  on  this 
head.  This  I  can  confidently  assert,  because  I  have  care- 
fully and  expressly  inquired  into  whatever  relates  to  the 
Lollards  -,  and  from  the  most  authentic  records  concerning 
them,  both  published  and  unpublished,  have  collected  copious 
materials  from  whence  their  true  history  may  be  compiled. 
Most  of  the  German  writers,  as  well  as  those  of  other 
countries,  affirm  that  the  Lollards  were  a  particular  sect, 
who  differed  from  the  church  of  Rome  in  many  religious 
points ;  and  that  Walter  Lollhard,  who  was  burnt  in  this  cen- 
tury at  Cologn,  was  their  founder.  How  so  many  learned 
men  came  to  adopt  this  opinion  is  beyond  my  comprehen- 
sion. They  indeed  refer  to  Jo.  Trithemius  as  the  author  of 
this  opinion  j  yet  it  is  certain  that  no  such  account  of  these 
people  is  to  be  found  in  his  writings.  I  shall  therefore  en- 
deavour, with  all  possible  brevity,  to  throw  all  the  light  I 
can  upon  this  matter,  that  they  who  are  fond  of  ecclesiastical 
history  may  have  a  just  notion  of  it.  w 

A  A  € 


356  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    example  of  these  good  people  had  such  an  ex* 
OAXJ>y\r  tensive  influence,  that  in  a  little  time  societies  of 

rAri  I    11. 

— The  term  Lollhard,  or  Lullhard,  or,  as  the  ancient  Germans 

write  it,  Lollert,  Lullert,  is  compounded  of  the  old  German 
word  lullen,  lollen,  lallen,  and  the  well  known  termination 
hard,  with  which  many  of  the  old  High  Dutch  words  end. 
Lollen,  or  fallen,  signifies  to  sing  with  a  low  voice.     It  is  yet 
used  in   the  same  sense  among  the  English,  who  say,  Ml 
asleep,  which  signifies  to  sing  any  one  into  a  slumber  with  a 
sweet  indistinct  voice.     See  Franc.  Junii  Etymologicum  An- 
glicanum,  ab  Edvardo  Lye,  Oxon.  1743,  fol.  under  the  word 
Lollard.     The  word  is  also  used  in  the  same  sense  among  the 
Flemings,  Swedes,  and  other  nations,  as  appears  by  their  re- 
spective Dictionaries.  Among  the  Germans,  both  the  sense  and 
pronunciation  of  it  have  undergone  some  alteration ;  for  they 
say,  lallen,  which  signifies  to  pronounce  indistinctly,  or  stam- 
mer.    Lollhard,  therefore,  is  a  singer,  or  one  who  frequently 
sings.     For  as  the  word  beggen,  which  universally  signifies 
to  request  any  thing  fervently,  is  applied'  to,  devotional  re- 
quests or  prayers ;  and,  in  the  stricter  sense  in  which  it  is 
used  by  the  High  Dutch,  denotes  praying  fervently  to  God ; 
in  the  same  manner  the  word  lollen,  or  lullen,  is  transferred 
from  a  common  to  a  sacred  song,  and  signifies,  in  its  most 
limited  sense,  to  sing  a  hymn.     Lollhard,  therefore,  in  the 
vulgar  tongue  of  the  ancient  Germans,  denotes  a  person  who 
is  continually  praising  God  with  a  song,  or  singing  hymns  to 
his  honour.     Hoscemius,  a  canon  of  Liege,  has  well  appre- 
hended and  expressed  the  force  of  this  word  in  his  Gesta 
Pontificum  Leodiensium,  lib.  i.  cap.  xxxi.  in  Jo.  Chapeavilli 
Gestis  Pontificum  Tungrensium  et  Leodiensium,  torn.  ii.  p. 
350.  s.     "  In  the  same  year  (1309),  says  he,  certain  strolling 
hypocrites,  who  were  called  Lollards,  or  praisers   of  God, 
deceived  some  women  of  quality  in  Hainault  and  Brabant.'* 
Because  those  who  praised  God  generally  did  it  in  verse, 
therefore,  in  the  Latin  style  of  the  middle  age,  to  praise  God 
meant  to  sing  to  him,  and  such  as  were  frequently  employed 
in  acts  of  adoration  were  called   religious  singers.     And  as 
prayers  and  hymns  are  regarded  as  a  certain  external  sign  of 
^         piety  towards  God.,  therefore  those  who  aspired  after  a  more 
than  ordinary  degree  of  piety  and  religion,  and  for  that  purpose 
were  more  frequently  occupied  in  singing  hymns  of  praise  to 
God  than  others,  were,  in  the  common  popular  language,  called 
Lollhards.     Hereupon  this  word  acquired  the  same  meaning 
with   that  of  the  term  Beghard,  which  denoted  a  person 
remarkable  for   piety ;  for  in  all  the  old  records,  from  the 
eleventh  century,  these  two  words  are  synonymous  :  so  that 
all  who  are  styled  Beghards  are  also  called  Lollards,  which 
may  be  proved  to  a  demonstration  from  many  authors,  and 
particularly  from  many  passages  in  the  writings  of  Felix 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &e.  357 

the  same  sort  of  Lollards,  consisting  both  of  men    CENT. 

XIV. 
PART  II. 


and  women,  were  formed  in  most  parts  of  Ger- 


Malleolus  against  the  Beghards ;  so  that  there  are  precisely 
as  many  sorts  of  Beggards  as  of  Lollards.  Those  whom  the 
monks  now  call  Lay  Brothers  were  formerly  called  Lollard 
Brethren,  as  is  well  observed  by  Barthol.  Schobinger,  Ad 
Joach.  Vadianum  de  Collegiis  Monasteriisque  Germanise 
Veter.  lib.  i.  p.  24?.  in  Goldasti  Scriptor,  Rerum  Alemannica- 
rum  torn.  iii. 

The  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  of  whom  we  have  already 
given  a  large  account,  are  by  some  styled  Beggards,  by  others 
Lollards.  The  followers  of  Gerhard  Groote,  or  Priests  of 
the  .Community,,  are  frequently  called  Lollard  Brethren.  The 
good  man  Walter,  who  was  burnt  at  Cologn,  and  whom  so 
many  learned  men  have  unadvisedly  represented  as  the 
founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Lollards,  is  by  some  called  a  Beg- 
gard,  by  others  a  Lollard,  and  by  others  a  Minorite.  The 
Franciscan  Tertiaries,  who  were  remarkable  for  their  prayers 
and  other  pious  exercises,  often  go  by  the  name  of  Lollards. 
The  Cellite  Brethren,  or  Alexians,  whose  piety  was  very  ex- 
emplary, did  no  sooner  appear  in  Flanders,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century,  than  the  people  gave  them  the  title  of 
Lollards,  a  term  much  in  use  at  that  time.  A  particular 
reason  indeed  for  their  being  distinguished  by  this  name  was, 
that  they  were  public  singers,  who  made  it  their  business  to 
inter  the  bodies  of  those  who  died  of  the  plague,  and  sang  a 
dirge  over  them  in  a  mournful  and  indistinct  tone  as  they 
carried  them  to  the  grave.  Among  the  many  testimonies  that 
might  be  alleged  to  prove  this,  we  shall  confine  ourselves  to 
the  words  of  Jo.  Bapt.  Gramaye,  a  man  eminently  skilled  in 
the  history  of  his  country,  in  his  work  entitled,  Antwerpia, 
lib,  ii.  cap.  vi.  p.  16.  "  The  Alexians,"  says  he,  "  who  con- 
stantly employed  themselves  about  funerals,  had  their  rise  at 
Antwerp ;  at  which  place,  about  the  year  1300,  some  honest 
pious  laymen  formed  a  society.  On  account  of  their  extra- 
ordinary temperance  and  modesty,  they  were  styled  Mate- 
manni  (or  Moderatists )  and  also  Lollards,  from  their  attend- 
ance on  funeral  obsequies.  From  their  cells,  they  were 
named  Cellite  Brethren."  To  the  same  purpose  is  the  fol- 
lowing passage  in  his  work  entitled,  Lovanium,  p.  18,  which 
is  inserted  in  the  splendid  folio  edition  of  the  Belgic  Antiqui- 
ties, published  at  Louvain,  in  1708 :  "  The  Alexians,  who 
were  wholly  engaged  in  taking  care  of  funerals,  now  began 
to  appear.  They  were  laymen,  who,  having  wholly  devoted 
themselves  to  works  of  mercy,  were  named  Lollards  and 
Matemanni  (or  Moderatists).  They  made  it  their  sole 
business  to  take  care  of  all  such  as  were  sick,  or  out  of  their 


358  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENf.    many  and  Flanders,  and  were  supported,  partly 
X1V*     by    their    manual    labours,    and    partly    by    the 

PART  II.     y      .     ,  ,       ,  r      •  rni J 

_  charitable  donations  01  pious  persons.  1  he  ma- 
gistrates and  inhabitants  of  the  towns,  where  these 
brethren  and  sisters  resided,  gave  them  peculiar 
marks  of  favour  and  protection  on  account  of  their 
great  usefulness  to  the  sick  and  needy.  But  the 
clergy,  whose  reputation  was  not  a  little  hurt  by 
them,  and  the  Mendicant  friars,  who  found 

senses.  These  they  attended  both  privately  and  publicly,  and 
buried  the  dead,"    The  same  learned  author  tells  us,  that  he 
transcribed  some  of  these  particulars  from  an  old  diary  written 
in  Flemish  rhyme.     Hence  we  find  in  the  Annals  of  Holland 
and  Utrecht,  in  Ant.  Matthaei  Analect.  Vet.  JEvl,  torn.  i.  p. 
431,  the  following  words:  "  Die  Lollardtjes  die  brochten, 
de  dooden  by  een,  i.  e.  the  Lollards  who  collected  the  dead 
bodies ;"  which  passage  is  thus  paraphrased  by  Matthaeus, 
"  The  managers  of  funerals,  and  carriers  of  the  dead,  of  whom 
there  was  a  fixed  company,  were  a  set  of  mean,  worthless 
creatures,  who  usually  spoke  in  a  canting  mournful  tone,  as 
if  bewailing  the  dead ;  and  hence  it  came  to  pass,  that  a 
street  in  Utrecht,  in  which  most  of  these  people  lived,  was 
called  the  Loller  street."  The  same  reason  that  changed  the 
word  Beggard  from  its  primitive  meaning  contributed  also 
to  give,  in  process  of  time,  a  different  signification  to  that  of 
Lollard,  even  its  being  assumed  by  persons  that  dishonoured 
it.    For  among  those  Lollards,  who  made  such  extraordinary 
pretences  to  piety  and  religion,  and  spent  the  greatest  part 
of  their  time  in  meditation,  prayer,  and  such-like  acts  of  piety, 
there  were  many  abominable  hypocrites,  who  entertained  the 
most  ridiculous  opinions,  and  concealed  the  most  enormous 
vices  under  the  specious  mask  of  this  extraordinary  profes- 
sion.    But  it  was  chiefly  after  the  rise  of  the  Alexians,  or 
Cellites,  that  the  name  Lollard  became  infamous.     For  the 
priests  and  monks,  being  inveterately  exasperated  against 
these  good  men,  propagated  injurious  suspicions  of  them, 
and  endeavoured  to  persuade  the  people,  that,  innocent  and 
beneficent  as  the  Lollards  seemed  to  be,  they  were  in  reality 
the  contrary,  being  tainted  with  the  most  pernicious  senti- 
ments of  a  religious  kind,  and  secretly  addicted  to  all  sorts 
of  vices.     Thus  by  degrees  it  came  to  pass,  that  any  person, 
who  covered  heresies  or  crimes  under  the  appearance  of 
piety,  was  called  a  Lollard.     So  that  it  is  certain  this  was 
not  a  name  to  denote  any  one  particular  sect,  but  was  formerly 
common  to  all  persons  and  all  sects  who  were  supposed  to 
be  guilty  of  impiety  towards  God  and  the  church,  under  an 
external  profession  of  extraordinary  piety. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  359 

their  profits  diminished  by  the  growing  credit  of   CENT. 
these  new-comers,   persecuted  them  vehemently,  PA*  T  "n 

and  accused  them  to  the  popes  of  many  vices  and 

intolerable  errors.  Hence  it  was  that  the  word 
Lollard,  which  originally  carried  a  good  meaning, 
became  a  term  of  reproach  to  denote  a  person, 
who,  under  the  mask  of  extraordinary  piety, 
concealed  either  enormous  vices  or  pernicious 
sentiments.  But  the  magistrates,  by  their  recom- 
mendations and  testimonials,  supported  the  Lol- 
lards against  their  malignant  rivals,  and  obtained 
many  papal  constitutions,  by  which  their  institute 
was  confirmed,  their  persons  exempted  from  the 
cognizance  of  the  inquisitors,  and  subjected  en- 
tirely to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops.  But  as 
these  measures  were  insufficient  to  secure  them 
from  molestation,  Charles,  duke  of  Burgundy,  in 
the  year  1472,  obtained  a  solemn  bull  from  Pope 
Sixtus  IV.  ordering  that  the  Cellites,  or  Lollards, 
should  be  ranked  among  the  religious  orders,  and 
delivered  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops; 
and  Pope  Julius  II.  granted  them  yet  greater 
privileges  in  the  year  1506.  Many  societies  of 
this  kind  are  yet  subsisting  at  Cologn,  and  in  the 
cities  of  Flanders,  though  they  have  evidently 
departed  from  their  ancient  rules  (w). 

XXXVII.  Among  the  Greek  writers  of  this  Greek  wri- 
century  the  following  were  the  most  eminent. 

Nicephorus  Callistus,  whose  Ecclesiastical  Hi- 
story we  have  already  mentioned  ; 

Matthaeus  Blastares,  who  illustrated  and  ex- 
plained the  canon  laws  of  the  Greeks  ; 

(to)  Besides  many  others,  whom  it  is  not  proper  to  mention 
here,  see  JEgid.  Geilenius,  De  admiranda  Sacra  et  Civili  Mag- 
nitudine  Urbis  Colonies,  lib.  iii.  Syntagm.  li.  p.  534?.  598.  603. 
— Jo.  Bapt.  Gramaye,  in  Antiquit.  Belgicis. — Anton.  Sande- 
rus,  in  Brabantia  et  Flandria  illustratis. — Aub.  Miraeus,  in 
Operibus  Diplomatico-Historicis,  and  many  other  writers 
of  this  period  in  many  places  of  their  works.  I  may  add, 
that  those  who  are  styled  Lollards  are  by  many  called  die 
Nollbruder,  from  Nollen,  an  ancient  German  word, 


ters. 


360  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        Barlaam,  who  was  a  very  zealous  champion  in 
XIV*     behalf  of  the  Grecian  cause  against  the  Latins  ; 

PART  II.  ^  .  A     .      i  c 

(jregorms  Acmdynus,  an  inveterate  enemy  of 

the  Palamites,  of  which  sect  we  shall  give  some 
account  in  its  proper  place  ; 

Johannes  Cantacuzenus,  famous  for  his  History 
of  his  Own  Time,  and  his  Confutation  of  the  Ma- 
hometan Law  j 

Nicephorus  Gregoras,  who  compiled  the  Byzan- 
tine History,  and  left  some  other  monuments  of 
his  genius  to  posterity ; 

Theophanes,  bishop  of  Nice,  a  laborious  de- 
fender of  the  truth  of  Christianity  against  the  Jews, 
and  the  rest  of  its  enemies  ; 

Nilus  Cabasilas,  Nilus  Rhodius,  and  Nilus 
Damyla,  who  most  warmly  maintained  the  cause 
of  their  nation  against  all  the  Latin  writers ; 

Philotheus,  several  of  whose  tracts  are  yet  ex- 
tant, and  seem  well  adapted  to  excite  a  devotional 
temper  and  spirit ; 

Gregory  Palamas  ;  of  whom  more  hereafter. 
Latin  wri-  XXXVIII.  From  the  prodigious  number  of 
ters*  the  Latin  writers  of  this  century  we  shall  only 
select  the  most  famous.  Among  the  scholastic 
doctors,  who  blended  philosophy  with  divinity, 
John  Duns  Scotus,  a  Franciscan,  and  the  great 
antagonist  of  Thomas,  held  the  first  rank ;  and, 
though  not  entitled  to  any  praise  for  his  candour 
and  ingenuity,  was  by  no  means  inferior  to  any 
of  his  contemporaries  in  acuteness  and  subtilty  of 
genius  (x)> 

After  him  the  most  celebrated  writers  of  this 
class  were  Durandus  of  St.  Portian,  who  combated 

(#)  The  very  laborious  and  learned  Luc.  Waddingus 
favoured  the  public  with  an  accurate  edition  of  the  works 
of  Scotus,  which  was  printed  at  Lyons,  1639,  in  twelve 
volumes  folio.— Compare  Wood,  Antiq.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p. 
86.  s.  but  especially  Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor.  Fratr.  torn, 
vi.  p.  40.  107. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p.  70, 


PART   II. 


CHAP.  HI.       The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  361 

the  commonly  received  doctrine  of  the  divine  co-    CENT. 
operation  with  the  human  will  (#),  Antonius  An-  p™\} 
draeas,  Hervaeus  Natalis,  Francis  Mayronius,  Tho- . 
mas    Bradwardine,  an  acute  ingenious   man  (s), 
Peter   Aureolus,  John   Bacon,    William   Occam, 
Walter   Burlaeus,    Peter  de  Alliaco,  Thomas  of 
Strasburg,  and  Gregory  de  Rimini  (#). 

Among  the  mystic  divines,  Jo.  Taulerus  and 
Jo.  Ruysbrockius,  though  not  entirely  free  from 
errors,  were  eminent  for  their  wisdom  and  inte- 
grity; 

Nicholas  Lyranus  acquired  great  reputation  by 
his  Compendious  Exposition  of  the  whole  Bible ; 

Raynerius  Pisanus  is  celebrated  for  his  Sum- 
mary of  Theology,  and  Astesanus  for  his  Sum- 
mary of  Cases  of  Conscience. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Concerning  the  Doctrine  of  the  Christian  Church 
during  this  Century. 

I.  ALL  those  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  The  cor- 
history  of  these  times  must  acknowledge,  that  reli-  ™{f 'j™  of 
gion,  whether  as  taught  in  the  schools,  or  inculcated 
upon  the  people  as  the  rule  of  their  conduct,  was 
so  extremely  adulterated  and  deformed,  that  there 
was  not  a  single  branch  of  the  Christian  doc- 

(y)  See  Jo.  Launoius,  in  a  small  treatise,  entitled,  Sylla- 
bus Rationum,  quibus  Durandi  Causa  defenditur,  torn.  i.  opp. 
— Gallia  Christ,  tom.ii.  p.  723. 

(2)  Rich.  Simon,  Lettres  Choisies,  torn.  iv.  p.  232.  et  Cri- 
tique de  la  Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Ecclesiast.  par  M.  Du 
Pin,  torn.  i.  p.  360.  Steph.  Soucietus,  in  Observationibus  ad 
h.  1.  p.  703. — Nouv.  Diet.  Hist.  Crit.  torn.  ii.  p.  500.  s.  He 
was  archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

(a)  For  a  full  account  of  all  these  persons,  see  Histoire 
de  PEglise  Gallicane,  torn,  xiv.  p.  11,  12.  s. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  trine  which  retained  the  least  trace  of  its  primitive 
lustre  and  beauty.  Hence  it  may  easily  be  ima- 
gined  that  the  Waldenses  and  others,  who  longed 
for  a  reformation  of  the  church,  and  had  separated 
themselves  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  of 
Rome,  though  every  where  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  inquisitors  and  monks,  yet  increased  from  day 
to  day,  and  baffled  all  the  attempts  that  were 
made  to  extirpate  them.  Many  of  these  poor 
people  having  observed  that  great  numbers  of 
their  party  perished  by  the  flames  and  other 
punishments,  fled  out  of  Italy,  France,  and  Ger- 
many, into  Bohemia  and  the  adjacent  countries, 
where  they  afterwards  associated  with  the  Huss- 
ites, and  other  separatists  from  the  church  of 
Rome. 

H*  Nicholas  Lyranus  deservedly  holds  the 
-  first  rank  among  the  commentators  on  the  Holy 
torytheo-  Scriptures,  having  explained  the  Books,  both  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament,  in  a  manner  far 
superior  to  the  prevailing  taste  and  spirit  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  perfect  master  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  but  not  well  versed  in  the  Greek,  and 
was  therefore  much  happier  in  his  exposition  of 
the  Old  Testament  than  in  that  of  the  New  (£). 
All  the  other  divines  who  applied  themselves  to 
this  kind  of  writing  were  servile  imitators  of 
their  predecessors.  They  either  culled  choice 
sentences  from  the  writings  of  the  more  ancient 
doctors ;  or  else,  departing  from  the  obvious 
meaning  of  the  words,  they  tortured  the  sacred 
writers  to  accommodate  them  to  senses  that  were 
mysterious  and  abstruse.  They  who  are  desirous 
of  being  acquainted  with  this  art  may  have  re- 
course to  Vitalis  a  Furno,  his  Moral  Mirrour  of 

(b)  Rich.  Simon,  Histoire  des  principaux  Commentateurs 
du  Nos,  p.  447.  et  Critique  de  la  Bibliotb.  des  Auteurs 
Eccles.  par  M.  Du  Pin,  torn.  i.  p.  352.— Waddingi  Annal. 
Minor,  torn.  v.  p.  264.  s. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church. 

the  Scriptures  (c),  or  to  Ludolphus  of  Saxony,  in  CENT. 
his  Psalter  Spiritualized  (</).  The  philosophers 
who  commented  upon  the  sacred  writings  some- 
times proposed  subtile  questions,  drawn  from 
what  was  called,  in  this  century,  Internal  Science, 
and  solved  them  in  a  dexterous  and  artful 
manner. 

III.  The  greatest  part  of  the  doctors  of  this  The  didac- 
century,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  followed  the  rules  Uc  divines- 
of    the    peripatetic    philosophy,    in    expounding 
and  teaching  the  doctrines  of  religion  ;  and  the 
Greeks,  from  their  commerce  with  the  Latins, 
seemed  to  have  acquired  some  knowledge  of  those 
methods  of  instruction  used  in  the  western  schools. 
Even  to  this  day,  the  Greeks  read,  in  their  own 
tongue,  the  works  of  Thomas,  and  other  capital 
writers  of  the  scholastic  class,  which  in  this  age 
were  translated  and  introduced  into  the  Greek 
church  by  Demetrius  Cydonius,  and  others  (e). 
Prodigious  numbers  among  the  Latins  were  fond 
of  this  subtile  method,   in  which  John  Scotus, 
Durandus  a  S.  Portain,  and  William  Occam,  pe- 
culiarly excelled.     Some  few  had  recourse  to  the 
decisions  of  Scripture  and  Tradition  in  explaining 
divine  truths,  but   they  were  overborne   by  the 
immense  tribe  of  logicians,  who  carried  all  before 
them. 

IV.  This  superiority  of  the  schoolmen  did  not,  The  adver- 
however,  prevent  some  wise  and  pious  men  among  J^JSr*-118 
the  Mystics,  and  elsewhere,  from  severely  censur-  vmes^ 
ing  this  presumptuous  method  of  bringing  before  T.^ 
the  tribunal  of  philosophy  matters  of  pure  revela- 
tion.    Many,  on  the  contrary,  were  bold  enough 
to  oppose  the  reigning  passion,  and  to  recal  the 
youth  designed  for  the  ministry  to  the  study  of 

(c)  Speculum  Morale  totius  Scripturae. 

(d)  Psalterium  juxta  Spiritualem  Sensum. 

(<?)  Rich.  Simon,  Creance  de  1'Eglise  Orientale  sur  la 
Transubstantiation,,  p.  166. 


364  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    the   Scriptures  and  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
PART  ii.  fathers.      This  proceeding  kindled  the  flame  of 

discord  almost  everywhere  ;   but  this  flame  raged 

with  peculiar  violence  in  some  of  the  more  famous 
universities,  especially  in  those  of  Paris  and  Ox- 
ford, where  many  sharp  disputes  were  continually 
carried  on  against  the  philosophical  divines  by 
those  of  the  Biblical  party,  who,  though  greatly 
inferior  to  their  antagonists  in  point  of  number, 
were  sometimes  victorious.  For  the  philosophical 
legions,  headed  by  Mendicants,  Dominicans,  and 
Franciscans,  were  often  extremely  rash  in  their 
manner  of  disputing ;  they  defined  and  explained 
the  principal  doctrines  of  revealed  religion  in 
such  a  way  as  really  overturned  them,  and  fell 
into  opinions  that  were  evidently  absurd  and  im- 
pious. Hence  it  came  to  pass,  that  some  of  them 
were  compelled  to  abjure  their  errors,  others,  to 
seek  their  safety  by  flight ;  some  had  their  writ- 
ings publicly  burnt,  and  others  were  thrown 
into  prison  (jQ.  However,  when  these  com- 
motions were  quelled,  most  of  them  returned, 
though  with  prudence  and  caution,  to  their 
former  way  of  thinking,  perplexed  their  adver- 
saries by  various  contrivances,  and  deprived  them 
of  their  reputation,  their  profits,  and  many  of 
their  followers. 

Contentions      V.  It  is  remarkable,  that  the  scholastic  doctors, 
^teofmen   or   P^l°soP^cal    theologists,  far   from   agreeing 

lists  and"  (/)  ^ee  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  passim. — 
Thomists.  In  the  year  1340,  several  opinions  of  the  schoolmen,  con- 
cerning the  Trinity  and  other  doctrines,  were  condemned,  p. 
266.— In  the  year  1347,  M.  Jo.  de  Mercuria  and  Nich.  de 
Ultricuria  were  obliged  to  abjure  their  errors,  p.  298.  308. — 
In  1348,  one  Simon  was  convicted  of  some  horrible  errors, 
p.  322. — The  same  fate  a.  1354,  befel  Guido  of  the  Augus- 
tine order,  p.  329.  A.  1362,  the  like  happened  to  one  Lewis, 
p.  374.  to  Jo.  de  Galore,  p.  377.  A.  1365,  to  Dion,  Soulle- 
chat,  p.  382.  Oxford  also  had  its  share  in  transactions  of 
this  nature.  See  Ant.  Wood,  Antiquit.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p. 
153.  183.  s. 


CHAP.  ni.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  365 

among    themselves,   were    furiously   engaged   in    CENT. 
disputations   with   each    other   concerning    many  p^^*n 

points.     The  flame  of  their  controversy  was,  in '_ 

this  century,  supplied  with  plentiful  accessions  of 
fuel  by  John  Duns  Scot  us,  an  Englishman,  of 
the  Franciscan  order,  who  was  extremely  eminent 
for  the  subtilty  of  his  genius,  and  who,  animated 
against    the    Dominicans    by   a  warm   spirit   of 
jealousy,  had  attacked  and  attempted  to  disprove 
several    doctrines    of    Thomas    Aquinas.     Upon 
this,  the  Dominicans,   taking  the  alarm,   united 
from  all  quarters  to  defend  their  favourite  doctor, 
whom   they  justly    considered    as   the    common 
leader  of  the  scholastics ;  while  the  Franciscans, 
on   the   other   hand,    espoused   with   ardour   the 
cause  of  Scotus,  whom  they  looked  upon  as  a  di- 
vine  sage  sent  down  from  heaven  to  enlighten 
bewildered  and  erring  mortals.    Thus  these  power- 
ful and  flourishing  orders  were  again  divided ;  and 
hence  the  origin  of  the  two  famous   sects,   the 
Scotists  and  Thomists,  which,  to  this  day,  dispute 
the   field   of   controversy  in  the   Latin   schools. 
The  chief  points  about  which  they  disagree  are, 
the  Nature  of  the  divine  Co-operation  with  the 
Human  Will,  the  Measure  of  divine  Grace  that  is 
necessary  to  Salvation,  the  Unity  of  Form  in  Man, 
or    personal    identity,    and   other    abstruse    and 
minute   questions,  the  enumeration   of  which   is 
foreign  to  our  purpose.     We  shall  only  observe, 
that  what  contributed  most  to  exalt  the  reputation 
of  Scotus,  and  to  cover  him  with  glory,  was  his 
demonstration  and  defence  of  what  was  called  the 
Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin  Mary  against 
the  Dominicans,  who  entertained  different  notions 
of  that  matter  (g*). 

VI.  A  prodigious  number  of  the  people,  deno-  The  My. 
minated   Mystics,  resided  and   propagated   their  sties. 

(g)  See  Waddingus,  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  52. 


PART  II, 


366  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  tenets  in  almost  every  part  of  Europe.  There 
XIV*  were,  undoubtedly,  among  them  many  persons 
1  of  eminent  piety,  who  endeavoured  to  wean  men 
from  an  excessive  attachment  to  the  external  part 
of  religion,  and  to  form  them  to  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  practice  of  genuine  virtue.  Such, 
among  others,  were  Taulerus,  Ruysbrockius,  Suso, 
and  Gerhard  of  Zutphen  (Ji)9  who,  it  must  be 
confessed,  have  left  many  writings  that  are  ex- 
ceedingly well  calculated  to  excite  pious  dispo- 
sitions in  the  minds  of  their  readers  ;  though 
want  of  judgment,  and  a  propensity  to  indulge 
enthusiastic  visions,  is  a  defect  common  to  them 
all.  But  there  were  also  some  senseless  fanatics 
belonging  to  this  party  who  ran  about,  from  place 
to  place,  recommending  a  most  unaccountable 
extinction  of  all  the  rational  faculties,  whereby 
they  idly  imagined  the  human  mind  would  be 
transfused  into  the  divine  essence ;  and  thus  led 
their  proselytes  into  a  foolish  kind  of  piety,  that 
in  too  many  cases  bordered  nearly  upon  licenti- 
ousness. The  religious  frenzy  of  these  enthu- 
siasts rose  to  such  a  height,  as  rendered  them 
detestable  to  the  soberer  sort  of  Mystics,  who 
charged  their  followers  to  have  no  connexions 
with  them  (*). 

Moral  wri-  VII.  It  is  needless  to  say  much  concerning 
those  who  applied  themselves  to  the  study  of  mo- 
rality, seeing  their  spirit  is  much  of  the  same 
kind  with  that  of  the  authors  whom  we  have 
already  mentioned ;  though  it  may  be  proper  to 

(A)  Concerning  these  authors,  see  Petr.  Poiret,  Biblioth. 
Mysticorura;  and  Godofr.  Arnold,  Histor.  et  Descriptio 
Theol.  Mysticae.  Concerning  Taulerus  and  Suso,  Echardus 
treats  expressly  in  his  Scriptor.  Prsedicat.  torn.  i.  p.  653.  677. 
See  also  Acta  Sanctor.  Januar.  torn.  ii.  p.  652. 

(i)  Joh.  Ruysbrockius  inveighed  bitterly  against  them,  as 
appears  from  his  work  published  by  Laur.  Surius,  p.  50. 378. 
as  also  from  his  treatise  De  Vera  Contemplatione,  cap,  xviii. 
p.  608. 


ters. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  367 

mention  two  circumstances,  by  which  the  reader    CENT. 
may  ascertain  the  true  state  of  this  science.     The    ^iJrn 

first  is,  that  about  this  time  more  writers  than  in 

any  former  century  made  it  their  business  to  col- 
lect and  solve  what  they  styled,  cases  of  con- 
science ;  by  which  Astesanus,  an  Italian,  Monal- 
dus,  and  Bartholomew  of  St.  Concordia,  acquired  a 
reputation  superior  to  any  of  their  contempo- 
raries. This  kind  of  writing  was  of  a  piece  with 
the  education  then  received  in  the  schools,  since 
it  taught  people  to  quibble  and  wrangle  instead 
of  forming  them  to  a  sound  faith  and  a  suitable 
practice.  A  second  thing  worthy  of  notice  is, 
that  moral  duties  were  explained,  and  their  prac- 
tice enforced,  by  allegories  and  comparisons  of 
a  new  and  whimsical  kind,  even  by  examples 
drawn  from  the  natures,  properties,  and  actions 
of  the  brute  creation.  These  writers  began,  for 
instance,  by  explaining  the  nature  and  qualities 
of  some  particular  animal,  and  then  applied  their 
description  to  human  life  and  manners,  to  cha- 
racterize the  virtues  and  vices  of  moral  agents. 
The  most  remarkable  productions  of  this  sort  are 
Nieder's  Formicarius  ;  a  Treatise  concerning  Bees, 
by  Thomas  Brabantinus ;  Hugo  de  St.  Victor's 
Dissertation  upon  Beasts  ;  and  a  tract  of  Thomas 
Walley's,  entitled,  The  Nature  of  Brute  Animals 
moralized. 

VIII.  The  defenders  of  Christianity  in  this  age  Contro- 
were,  generally  speaking,  unequal  to  the  glo- vt 
rious  cause  they  undertook  to  support ;  nor  do 
their  writings  discover  any  striking  marks  of  ge- 
nius, dexterity,  perspicuity,  or  candour.  Some 
productions,  indeed,  appeared  from  time  to  time, 
that  were  not  altogether  unworthy  of  notice. 
The  learned  Bradwardine,  an  English  divine,  ad- 
vanced many  pertinent  and  ingenious  things  to- 
wards the  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  Christianity 
in  general,  in  a  Book  upon  Providence.  The 


368  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    book  intitled,  Collyrium  Fidei  contra  Hsereticos  : 

XIV. 
PART  II. 


av-     or,  "  Eye-salve  of  Faith  against  the  Heretics,' 


shows,  that  its  author,  Alvarus  Pelagius,  was  a 
well-meaning  and  judicious  man,  though  he  has 
by  no  means  exhausted  the  subject  in  this  per- 
formance. Nicholas  Lyra  wrote  against  the  Jews, 
as  did  also  Porchetus  Salvaticus,  whose  treatise 
•  intitled,  "  The  Triumph  of  Faith,"  is  chiefly  bor- 
rowed from  the  writings  of  Raymond  Martin. 
Both  these  writers  are  much  inferior  to  Theo- 
phanes,  whose  "  Book  against  the  Jews,"  and  his 
"Harmony between  the  Old  and  New  Testament/5 
contain  many  observations  that  are  by  no  means 
contemptible, 
state  of  the  JX.  During  this  century  there  were  some 

controver-  •   •  n       J  .,.      .  , 

sy  between  promising  appearances  of  a  reconciliation  be- 
tween  tne  Greeks  and  Latins.  For  the  former, 
apprehending  they  should  want  the  assistance  of 
the  Latins  to  set  bounds  to  the  power  of  the 
Turks,  which  about  this  time  was  continually  in- 
creasing, often  pretended  a  willingness  to  submit 
to  the  Latin  canons.  Accordingly,  A.  D.  1339, 
Andronicus,  the  Younger,  sent  Barlaam  as  his 
ambassador  into  the  west,  to  desire  a  reconcilia- 
tion in  his  name.  In  the  year  1349,  another 
Grecian  embassy  was  sent  to  Clement  VI.  for 
the  same  purpose,  and  in  1356,  a  third  was  de- 
spatched upon  a  like  errand  to  Innocent  VI. 
who  resided  at  Avignon.  Nor  was  this  all ;  for 
in  the  year  1 367  tne  Grecian  patriarch  arrived  at 
Rome  in  order  to  negotiate  this  important  mat- 
ter, and  was  followed,  in  the  year  1369,  by  the 
emperor  himself,  John  Palaeologus,  who  under- 
took a  journey  into  Italy,  and,  in  order  to  con- 
ciliate the  friendship  and  good-will  of  the  La- 
tins, published  a  confession  of  his  faith,  which 
was  agreeable  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Roman 
pontiff.  But,  notwithstanding  these  prudent  and 
pacific  measures,  the  major  part  of  the  Greeks 


CHAP.  in.       The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  369 

could  not  be  persuaded  by  any  means  to  drop  the    CENT. 
controversy,  or  to  be  reconciled  to  the  church  of 
Rome,  though  several  of  them,  from  views  of  in- . 
terest  or  ambition,  expressed  a  readiness  to  submit 
to  its  demands ;  so  that  this  whole  century  was 
spent   partly  in  furious  debates,    and   partly  in 
fruitless  negotiations 


X.    In  the  year   1384,  a  furious  controversy  The  conten- 
arose  at  Paris,  between  the  university  there  and  [|j^^fren 
the   Dominican   order.      The  author   of  it  was  suy  of  Paris 
John  de  Montesono,  a  native  of  Arragon,  a  Do-  JJ*.^0  Do" 
minican  friar  and  professor  of  divinity,  who,  pur- 
suant to  the  decisions  and  doctrine  of  his  order, 
publicly  denied  that  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary  was 
conceived  without  any  stain   of  original  sin  ;  and 
moreover  asserted,  that  all  who  believed  the  im- 
maculate  conception   were   enemies  of  the  true  occasioned 
faith.     The  quarrel  occasioned  by  this  proceeding  by  Monte. 
would  certainly  have  been  soon  compromised,  had  s° 
not  John,  in  a  public  discourse  delivered  some 
time  in  the  year  1387,  revived  this  opinion  with 
more  violence  than  ever.      For  this  reason  the 
college  of  divines,  and  afterwards  the  whole  uni- 
versity, condemned  this,  and  some  other  tenets  of 
Montesonus.     For  it  may  be  proper  to  inform 
the  reader,  that  the  university  of  Paris,  princi- 
pally induced  thereto  by  the  discourses  of  John 
Dun  Scotus,  had  from  the  beginning  almost  of 
this  century,  publicly  adopted  the  doctrine  of  the 
sinless  conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin  (/).     Upon 
this,  the  Dominicans,  together  with  their  cham- 
pion Montesonus,  appealed  from  the  sentence  of 


(k)  See  Henr.  Canisii  Lectiones  Antiquse,  torn.  iv.p.  369- 
— -Leo  Allatius,  De  Perpetua  Consensione  Eccles.  Orient, 
et  Occident,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xvi.  xvii.  p.  782. — Luc.  Waddingus, 
Annal.  Minor,  torn,  viii.p.  29.  40.  107.  201.  289.  303.  312. — 
Steph.  Baluzii  Vitee  Pontif.  Avenion.tom.  i.  p.  348.  380.  388. 
403.  407.  410.  772. 

(/)  See  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  52.  s. 

VOL.  III.  B  B 


370  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  the  university  to  pope  Clement  VII.  at  Avignon, 
av'  and  raised  an  outcry,  that  St.  Thomas  himself  was 
condemned  by  the  judgment  passed  upon  their 
brother.  But,  before  the  pope  could  decide  the 
affair,  the  accused  friar  fled  from  the  court  of 
Avignon,  went  over  to  the  party  of  Urban  VI. 
who  resided  at  Rome,  and  thus,  during  his  ab- 
sence, was  excommunicated.  Whether  or  no  the 
pope  approved  the  sentence  of  the  university  of 
Paris,  we  cannot  say.  The  Dominicans,  however, 
deny  that  he  did,  and  affirm,  that  Montesonus 
was  condemned  purely  on  account  of  his  flight  (ni) ; 
though  there  are  many  others  who  assert,  that  his 
opinion  was  also  condemned.  And  as  the  Domi- 
nicans would  not  acknowledge  the  sentence  of  the 
university  to  be  valid,  they  were  expelled  in  the 
year  1389,  and  were  not  restored  to  their  ancient 
honours  in  that  learned  body  till  the  year  1404  (n). 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Concerning  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  used  in  the 
Church  during  this  Century. 

The  aitera-  I.  WE  must  confine  ourselves  to  a  general  and 
superficial  view  of  the  alterations  that  were  intro- 
duced into  the  ritual  of  the  church  during  this 

o 

century,  since  it  cannot  reasonably  be  expected 
we  should  insist  largely  upon  this  subject  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  such  a  work  as  this.  One  of 
the  principal  circumstances  that  strikes  us  here, 

(»z)  See  Jae.  Echardi  Scriptor.  Praedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  691. 
(»)  Cses.  Egass.  de  Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  iv.  p. 
599.  618.  638.-— Steph,  Baluzii  Vitse  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i. 
.p.  521.  tom.  ii.  p.  992. — Argentre,  Collectio  Judicior.  de 
Novis  Errorib.  tom.  i.  p.  61. — Jac.  de  Longueval,  Hist,  de 
1'Eglise  Gallicane,  tom.  xiv.  p.  347. 


FAUT 


CHAP.  iv.       Rites  and  Ceremonies.  #71 

is  the  change  that  was  made  in  the  time  of  ceie-  CENT. 
brating  the  jubilee.  In  the  year  1350,  Clement 
VI.  in  compliance  with  the  requests  of  the  people 
of  Rome,  enacted  that  the  jubilee,  which  Boni- 
face VIII.  had  ordered  to  be  held  every  hun- 
dredth year,  should  be  celebrated  twice  in  every 
century  (o).  In  favour  of  this  alteration,  he 
might  have  assigned  a  very  plausible  pretext  ; 
since  it  is  well  known  that  the  Jews,  whom  the 
Roman  pontiffs  were  always  ready  to  imitate  in 
whatever  related  to  pomp  and  majesty,  celebrated 
this  sacred  solemnity  every  fiftieth  year.  But 
Urban  VI.  Sixtus  VI.  and  other  popes,  who  or- 
dered a  more  frequent  celebration  of  this  salutary 
and  profitable  institution,  would  have  had  more 
difficulty  in  attempting  to  satisfy  those  who  might 
have  demanded  sufficient  reasons  to  justify  this 
inconstancy. 

II.  Innocent  V.  instituted  festivals,  sacred  to  Festivals. 
the  memory  of  the  lance  with  which  our  Saviour's 
side  was  pierced,  the  nails  that  fastened  him  to 
the  cross,  and  the  crown  of  thorns  he  wore  at  his 
death  (p).  This,  though  evidently  absurd,  was 
nevertheless  pardonable  upon  the  whole,  consider- 
ing the  gross  ignorance  and  stupidity  of  the  times. 
But  nothing  can  excuse  the  impious  fanaticism 
and  superstition  of  Benedict  XII.  who,  by  ap- 
pointing a  festival  in  honour  of  the  marks  of 
Christ's  wounds,  which,  the  Franciscans  tell  us, 
were  imprinted  upon  the  body  of  their  chief  and 
founder  by  a  miraculous  interposition  of  the  divire 
power,  gave  credit  to  that  grossly  ridiculous  and 
blasphemous  fable.  Pope  John  XXII.  besides  praym. 
the  sanction  he  gave  to  many  other  superstitions, 

(o)  Baluzii  Vitas  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  247.  287.  312. 
887.  —  Muratorii  Anticjuit.  Ital.  torn.  iii.  p.  344-.  481. 

(p)  See  Jo.  Henr.  a  Seeien,  Diss.  de  Festo  Lanceae  et  Cla- 
vorum  Christi.  —  Baluzii  Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  328. 
Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  417- 


372  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    ordered  Christians  to  add  to  their  prayers,  those 


XIV. 


P\RT  ii   wol*ds  wfth  which  the  angel  Gabriel  saluted  the 


Virgin  Mary. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Concerning  the  Divisions  and  Heresies  that  trou- 
bled the  Church  during  this  Century. 


Controyer-  I.  DURING  some  part  of  this  century  the  Hesy- 
byStheCQuL  chasts,  or  as  the  Latins  call  them,  the  Quietists, 
ctists.  gave  the  Greek  church  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 
To  assign  the  true  source  of  it,  we  must  observe, 
that  Barlaam,  a  native  of  Calabria,  who  was  a 
monk  of  St.  Basil,  and  afterwards  bishop  of 
Gieraci,  in  Calabria,  made  a  progress  through 
Greece  to  inspect  the  behaviour  of  the  monks, 
among  whom  he  found  many  things  highly  re- 
prehensible. He  was  more  especially  offended 
at  the  Hesychasts  of  mourit  Athos,  in  Thessaly, 
who  were  the  same  with  the  Mystics,  or  more 
perfect  monks,  and  who,  by  a  long  course  of 
intense  contemplation,  endeavoured  to  arrive  at 
a  tranquillity  of  mind  entirely  free  from  every 
degree  of  tumult  and  perturbation.  These  Qui- 
etists, in  compliance  with  an  ancient  opinion  of 
their  principal  doctors  (who  imagine  that  there 
was  a  celestial  light  concealed  in  the  deepest  re- 
tirements of  the  mind),  used  to  sit  every  day, 
during  a  certain  space  of  time,  in  a  solitary 
corner,  with  their  eyes  eagerly  and  immoveably 
fixed  upon  the  middle  region  of  the  belly,  or 
navel ;  and  boasted,  that,  while  they  remained  in 
this  posture,  they  found,  in  effect,  a  divine  light 
beaming  forth  from  the  soul,  which  diffused 
through  their  hearts  inexpressible  sensations  of 


CHAP.  v.  Divisio?is  and  Heresies.  373 


pleasure  and  delight  (</).  To  such  as  inquired 
what  kind  of  light  this  was,  they  replied,  by  way  PART  n, 
of  illustration,  that  it  was  the  glory  of  God,  the 
same  celestial  radiance  that  surrounded  Christ 
during  his  transfiguration  on  the  mount.  Barlaam, 
entirely  unacquainted  with  the  customs  and  man- 
ners of  the  Mystics,  looked  upon  all  this  as  highly 
absurd  and  fanatical,  and  therefore  styled  the 
monks  who  adhered  to  this  institution,  Massa- 
lians  and  Euchites  (r),  and  also  gave  them  the 


(</)  We  have  no  reason  to  be  surprised  at,  and  much  less 
to  disbelieve  this  account.  For  it  is  a  fundamental  rule  with 
all  those  people  in  the  eastern  world,  whether  Christians, 
Mahometans,  or  Pagans  (who  maintain  the  necessity  of 
abstracting  the  mind  from  the  body,  in  order  to  hold  commu- 
nion with  God,  which  is  exactly  the  same  thing  with  the 
contemplative  and  mystic  life  among  the  Latins),  that  the  eyes 
must  be  steadily  fixed  every  day  for  some  hours  upon  some 
particular  object ;  and  that  he  who  complies  with  this  precept 
will  be  thrown  into  an  ecstasy,  in  which,  being  united  to  God, 
he  will  see  wonderful  things,  and  be  entertained  with  ineffa- 
ble delights.  See  what  is  said  concerning  the  Siamese  Monks 
and  Mystics  by  Engelb  Kaempfer,  in  his  History  of  Japan, 
torn.  i.  p.  30.  and  also  concerning  those  of  India,  in  the 
Voyages  of  Bernier,  torn.  ii.  p.  127.  Indeed,  I  can  easily 
admit,  that  they  who  continue  long  in  the  above-mentioned 
posture,  will  imagine  they  behold  many  things  which  no  man 
in  his  senses  ever  beheld  or  thought  of.  For  certainly  the 
combinations  they  form  of  the  unconnected  notions  that  arise 
to  their  fancy  while  their  minds  are  in  this  odd  and  unnatural 
state,  must  be  most  singular  and  whimsical ;  and  that  so  much 
the  more,  as  the  rule  itself  which  prescribes  the  contempla- 
tion of  a  certain  object  as  the  means  of  arriving  at  a  vision  of 
the  Deity,  absolutely  forbids  all  use  of  the  faculty  of  reason 
during  that  ecstatic  and  sublime  interval.  This  total  suspen- 
sion of  reason  and  reflection,  during  the  period  of  contempla- 
tion, was  not,  however,  peculiar  to  the  Eastern  Quietists ; 
the  Latin  Mystics  observed  the  same  rule,  and  inculcated  it 
upon  their  disciples.  And  from  hence  we  may  safely  con- 
clude, that  the  many  surprising  visions,  of  which  these  fana- 
tics boast,  are  fables  utterly  destitute  of  reason  and  probability. 
But  this  is  not  the  proper  place  for  enlarging  upon  prodigies  . 
of  this  nature. 

8§T    (>')  The  Massalians  (so  called  from  a  Hebrew  word, 
which  signifies  prayer,  as  Euchites,  from  a  Greek  word  of  the 


PART  II. 


374  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    new  name  of  Umbilicani  (s).    On  the  other  hand, 
IV'     Gregory    Palamas,    archbishop    of    Thessalonica, 
defended  the  cause  of  these  monks  against  Bar- 
laam  (f). 

The  state  II.  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  this  dissension,  a 
troversy°n~  council  was  held  at  Constantinople  in  the  year 
between  the  1341,  in  which  the  emperor  himself,  Andronicus 
andfiJar!818  the  younger,  and  the  patriarch,  presided.  Here 
laamites.  Palamas  and  the  monks  triumphed  over  Barlaam, 
who  was  condemned  by  the  council  ;  whereupon 
he  left  Greece,  and  returned  to  Italy.  Not  long 
after  this,  another  monk,  named  Gregory  Acin- 
dynus,  renewed  the  controversy,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  opinion  maintained  by  Palamas,  denied  that 
God  dwelt  in  an  eternal  light  distinct  from  his 
essence,  as  also  that  such  a  light  was  beheld  by 
the  disciples  on  Mount  Tabor.  The  dispute  was 
now  no  longer  concerning  the  monk?,  but  turned 
upon  the  light  seen  at  Mount  Tabor,  and  also 
upon  the  nature  and  residence  of  the  Deity. 
Nevertheless,  he  was  condemned  as  a  follower  of 
Barlaam,  in  another  council  held  at  Constantinople. 
Many  assemblies  were  convened  about  this  affair  ; 
but  the  most  remarkable  of  them  all  was  that 
held  in  the  year  1351,  in  which  the  Barlaamites 
and  their  adherents  received  such  a  fatal  wound, 
in  consequence  of  the  severe  decrees  enacted 
against  them,  that  they  were  forced  to  yield, 
and  leave  the  victory  to  Palamas.  This  prelate 
maintained  that  God  was  encircled,  as  it  were, 
with  an  eternal  light,  which  might  be  styled  his 
energy  or  operation,  and  was  distinct  from  his  na- 
ture and  essence  ;  and  that  he  favoured  the  three 

same  signification)  formed  themselves  into  a  sect,  during  the 
fourth  century,  under  the  reign  of  Constantius.    Their  tenets 
resembled  those  of  the  Quietists  in  several  respects. 
•     (s)  Ow,£aAo\J/y%of. 

(t)  For  an  account  of  these  two  famous  men,  Barlaam  and 
Gregory  Palamas,  see.  in  preference  to  all  other  writers,  Jo. 
Alb.  Fabricius,  Biblioth.  Grcecae,  torn.  x.  p.  1-27.  and  454. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  375 

disciples  with  a  view  of  this  light  upon  Mount    CENT. 
Tabor.       Hence   he    concluded   that  this  divine     XIV- 

operation  was  really  different  from  the  substance  J_ '_ 

of  the  Deity ;  and  further,  that  no  being  could 
possibly  partake  of  the  divine  substance  or  essence, 
but  that  finite  natures  might  possess  a  share  of  his 
divine  light,  or  operation.  The  Barlaamites,  on 
the  contrary,  denied  these  positions,  affirming, 
that  the  properties  and  operations  of  the  Deity 
were  not  different  from  his  essence,  and  that  there 
was  really  no  difference  between  the  attributes 
and  essence  of  God,  considered  in  themselves,  but 
only  in  our  conceptions  of  them,  and  reasonings 
upon  them  (u). 

III.  In  the  Latin  church  the  inquisitors,  those  The  seve- 
active  ministers  and  executioners  of  papal  justice,  ^j"^^ 
extended  their   vigilance  to  every   quarter,    andinthewes- 
most  industriously  hunted  out  the  remains  of  those  tern  wor!d' 
sects  who  opposed  the  religion  of  Rome,  even  the 
Waldenses,  the   Catharists,  the  Apostolists,  and 
others  ;  so  that  the  history  of  these  times  abounds 
with  numberless  instances  of  persons  who  were 
burnt,    or   otherwise    barbarously   destroyed,    by 
these    unrelenting    instruments   of    superstitious 
vengeance.     But  none  of  these  enemies  of  the 
church  gave  the  inquisitors  and  bishops  so  much 
employment  of  this  bloody  kind,  as  the  Brethren 
and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit,  who  went  under 

(u)  See  Jo.  Cantacuzenus,  Historiae,  lib.ii.  cap.  xxxix.  p. 
263,  and  Gregor.  Pontanus.  Nicephorus  Gregorus,  Historise . 
Byzantinae,  lib.  xi.  cap.  x.  p.  277.  and  in  many  other  places. 
But  these  two  writers  disagree  in  many  circumstances.  Many 
materials  relative  to  this  controversy  are  yet  unpublished  (see 
Montfaucon,  Biblioth.  Coisliniana,  p.  150.174.4-04.)  Nor 
have  we  ever  been  favoured  with  an  accurate  and  well-di- 
gested history  of  it.  In  the  mean  time,  the  reader  may  con- 
sult Leo  Allatius,  De  Perpetua  Consensione  Orient,  et  Occid. 
Ecclesia?,  lib.  ii.  cap.  xxii.  p.  824. — Henr.  Canisii  Lectiones 
Antiquae,  torn.  iv.  p.  361. — Diert  Petavius,  Dogmat.  Theol. 
torn.  i.  lib.  i.  cap.  xii.  p.  76. — Steph.  dc  Altimuru,  Panoplia. 
c.ontia  Schisma  Grsecor.  p.  381,  &c. 


376 

CENT. 
XIV. 

PART   II 


Severe 

edicts 

against  she 

Catharists, 

Beghards, 

Beguines, 

&c. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

the  common  name  of  Beghards  and  Beguines  in 
Germany  and  Flanders,  and  were  differently  de- 
.  nominated  in  other  provinces.  For  as  this  sort  of 
people  professed  an  uncommon  and  sublime  sort 
of  devotion,  endeavouring  to  call  off  men's  minds 
from  the  external  and  sensible  parts  of  religion, 
and  to  win  them  over  to  the  inward  and  spiri- 
tual worship  of  God,  they  were  greatly  esteemed 
by  many  plain,  well-meaning  persons,  whose  piety 
and  simplicity  were  deceived  by  a  profession  so 
seducing,  and  thus  made  many  converts  to  their 
opinions.  It  was  on  this  account  that  such  num- 
bers of  this  turn  and  disposition  perished  in  the 
flames  of  persecution  during  this  century  in  Italy, 
France,  and  Germany. 

IV.  This  sect  was  most  numerous  in  those  cities 
of  Germany  that  lay  upon  the  Rhine,  especially 
at  Cologn,  which  circumstance  induced  Henry  I. 
archbishop  of  that  diocese,  to  publish  a  severe 
edict  against  them,  A.  D.  1306  (w)  ;  an  exaniple 
that  was  soon  followed  by  the  bishops  of  Mentz, 
Triers,  Worms,  and  Strasburg  (#).  And  as  there 
were  some  subtile  acute  men  belonging  to  this 
party,  that  eminently  keen  logician,  John  Duns 
Scotus  (y)  was  sent  to  Cologn,  in  the  year 
1308,  to  dispute  against  them  and  to  vanquish 
them  by  dint  of  syllogism.  In  the  year  1310,  the 
famous  Margaret  Poretta,  who  made  such  a  shin- 
ing figure  in  this  sect,  was  burnt  at  Paris  with 
one  of  the  brethren.  She  had  undertaken  to  de- 
monstrate in  an  elaborate  treatise,  "  That  the  soul, 
when  absorbed  in  the  love  of  God,  is  free  from 
the  restraint  of  every  law,  and  may  freely  gra- 
tify all  its  natural  appetites,  without  contracting 


(to)  See  Statuta  Coloniensia,  published  in  4to,  at  Cologn, 
A.  D.  1554.  p.  58. 

(x)  Johannis,  Scriptor.  Rerum  Moguntinar.  torn.  iii.  p.  298. 
— Martene,  Thesaur.  Anecdotor.  torn.  iv.  p.  250. 

(y)  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  vi.  p.  108. 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  377 

any  guilt"  (s).     Pope  Clement  V.  exasperated  by    CENT. 
this  and  other  instances  of  the  pernicious  fana-     XIV' 

ticism  that  had  got  among  this  sect,  published  in  _1 ^1 

a  general  council  held  at  Vienne,  A.  D.  1311,  a 
special  constitution  against  the  Beghards  and 
Beguines  of  Germany.  And  though  the  edict 
only  mentions  imperfectly  the  opinions  of  this 
sect,  yet,  by  the  enumeration  of  them,  we  may 
easily  perceive  that  the  Mystic  Brethren  and  Sisters 
of  the  Free  Spirit  are  the  persons  principally  in- 
tended (a).  Clement,  in  the  same  council,  issued 
another  constitution,  by  which  he  suppressed  an- 
other and  a  very  different  sort  of  Beguines  (&), 
who  had  hitherto  been  considered  as  a  lawful  and 
regular  society,  and  lived  everywhere  in  fixed 
habitations  appropriated  to  their  order,  but  were 
now  corrupted  by  the  fanatics  abovementioned. 
For  the  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit  had 
insinuated  themselves  into  the  greatest  part  of  the 
convents  of  the  Beguines,  where  they  inculcated 
with  great  success  their  mysterious  and  sublime 
system  of  religion  to  these  simple  women.  And 
these  simple  women  were  no  sooner  initiated  into 
this  brilliant  and  chimerical  system,  than  they  were 
captivated  with  its  delusive  charms,  and  babbled, 
in  the  most  absurd  and  impious  manner,  concern- 
ing the  true  worship  of  the  Deity  (c). 

V.  The  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  oppressed  Neverthe- 
by  so  many  severe  edicts  and  constitutions,  formed  }^^n 

and  Sisters 

(z)  Luc.  Dacherii  Spicil.  Veter.  Scriptor.  torn.  iii.  p.  63.—  °f  th*Fref, 
Jo.  Baleus,  De   Scriptor.  Britan.  Centiir.  iv.  n.  88.  p.  367.  notbeex- 
published  in  folio,  at  Basil,  A.  D.  1557.  tirpated. 

(a)  It  is  extant  in  the  Corpus  Juris  Canon,  inter  Clemen- 
tinas, lib.  v.  tit.  iii.  De  Haereticis,  cap.  iii.  p.  1088. 

(b)  In  Jure  Canonico  inter  Clementinas,  lib.  iii.  tit.  xi.  De 
Religiosis  Domibus,  cap.  i.  p.  1075.  edit.  Bohmer. 

(c)  For  this  reason,  in  the  German  records  of  this  century, 
we  often  find  a  distinction  of  the  Beguines  into  those  of  the 
Right  and  Approved  Class,  and  those  of  the  Sublime  and  Free 
Spirit ;  the  former  of  whom  adhered  to  the  public  religion, 
while  the  latter  were  corrupted  by  the  opinions  of  the  Mystics. 


3~8  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  design  of  removing  from  Upper  Germany  into 

PART  11   ^e  'ower  Parts  °f  tne  empire ;  and  this  emigra- 
1  tion  was  so  far  put  in  execution,  as  that  West- 
phalia  was  the  only  province  which  refused  ad- 
mission to  these  dispersed  fanatics,  and  was  free 
from  their  disturbances.     This  was  owing  to  the 

O 

provident  measures  of  Henry,  archbishop  of  Co- 
logn,  who,  having  called  a  council,  A.  D.  1322, 
seriously  admonished  the  bishops  of  his  province 
of  the  approaching  danger,  and  thus  excited  them 
to  exert  their  utmost  vigilance  to  prevent  any  of 
these  people  from  coming  into  Westphalia.  About 
the  same  time  the  Beghards  (d)  upon  the  Rhine, 
lost  their  chief  leader  and  champion,  Walter,  a 
Dutchman,  of  remarkable  eloquence,  and  famous 
for  his  writings,  who  came  from  Mentz  to  Co- 
logn,  where  he  was  apprehended  and  burnt  (e). 


(d}  By  Begbards,  here,  Dr.  Mosheim  means  parti- 
cularly the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  who  frequently  passed 
under  this  denomination. 

(e)  Jo.  Trithemii  Annal.  Hirsaug.  torn.  ii.  p.  155. — Sclia- 
ten,  Anna!.  Paderborn.  torn.  ii.  p.  250. — This  is  that  famous 
Walter,  whom  so  many  ecclesiastical  historians  have  repre- 
sented as  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Lollards,  and  as  an 
eminent  martyr  to  their  cause.  Learned  men  conclude  all 
this,  and  more,  from  the  following  words  of  Trithemius.  But 
that  same  Walter  Lohareus  (so  it  stands  in  my  copy,  though 
I  fancy  it  ought  to  have  been  Lolhardus ;  especially  as  Tri- 
themius, according  to  the  custom  of  his  time,  frequently 
uses  this  word  when  treating  of  the  sects  that  dissented  from 
the  church)  a  native  of  Holland,  was  not  well  versed  in  the 
Latin  tongue.  I  say,  from  this  short  passage,  learned  men 
have  concluded  that  Walter's  surname  was  Lollhard ;  from 
whence,  as  from  its  founder  and  master,  they  supposed  his 
sect  derived  the  name  of  Lollards.  But  it  is  very  evident, 
not  only  from  this,  but  from  many  other  passages  of  Trithe- 
mius, that  Lollhard  was  no  surname,  but  merely  a  term  of 
reproach  applied  to  all  heretics  whatever,  who  concealed  the 
poison  of  error  under  the  appearance  of  piety.  Trithemius, 
speaking  of  the  very  same  man,  in  a  passage  which  occurs 
a  little  before  that  we  have  just  quoted,  calls  him  the  head 
of  the  Fratricelli,  or  Minorites  ;  but  the  term  Minorites  was 
a  very  extensive  one,  including  people  of  various  sects.  This 


CHAP.  \%       Divisions  and  Heresies.  37!) 

The  death  of  this  person  was  highly  detrimental    CENT. 
to  the  affairs  of  the  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,     xlv~ 

i  T  1  1  ,1       •  *•  PART  II. 

but  did  not,  however,  rum  their  cause,  nor  extir-  _ 
pate  their  sect.  For  it  appears  from  innumerable 
testimonies,  that  these  people,  for  a  long  time 
afterwards,  not  only  held  their  private  assemblies 
at  Cologn,  and  in  many  other  provinces  of  Ger- 
many, but  also  that  they  had  several  men  among 
them  of  high  rank  and  great  learning,  of  which 
number  Henry  Aycardus,  or  Eccard,  a  Saxon, 
was  the  most  famous.  He  was  a  Dominican, 
and  also  the  superior  of  that  order  in  Saxony  ;  a 
man  of  a  subtile  genius,  and  one  who  had  ac- 
quitted himself  with  reputation  as  professor  of 
divinity  at  Paris  (,/).  In  the  year  1330,  pope 
John  XXII.  endeavoured  to  suppress  this  obsti- 
nate sect  by  a  new  and  severe  constitution,  in 
which  the  errors  of  the  sect  of  the  Free  Spirit  are 
marked  out  in  a  more  distinct  and  accurate  manner 
than  in  the  Clementina  ($•).  But  his  attempt 
was  fruitless,  the  disorder  continued,  and  was 
combated  both  by  the  inquisitors  and  bishops 
in  most  parts  of  Europe  to  the  end  of  this 
century. 

VI.    The   Clementina,   or  constitution  of  the  The  per. 
council  of  Vienne  against  the  Beguines,  or  those 


Walter  embraced  the  opinions  of  the  Mystics,  and  was  the  its  tragical 
principal  doctor  among  those  Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  conclusion 
who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

(/)  See  Echardi  Scriptor.  Prsedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  507.  — 
Odor.  Raynaldus,  Annal.  torn.  xv.  ad  a.  1329.  sect.  Ixx.  p. 
389. 

(g)  This  new  constitution  of  John  XXII.  was  never  pub- 
lished entire.  It  began  with  the  following  words  :  In  agro 
Dominico  j  and  was  inscribed  thus,  Contra  singularia  dubia, 
suspecta,  et  temeraria,  quae  Beghardi  et  Beghinae  praedicant 
et  observant.  We  are  favoured  with  a  summary  of  it  by 
Herm.  Cornerus,  in  Chronico.  in  Eccardi  Corpore  Histor. 
Medii  Mvi,  torn.  ii.  p.  1035,  1036.  It  is  also  mentioned  by 
Paul  Langius,  in  Chronico  Citizensi,  in  Jo.  Pistorii  Scripton 
Rerum  German,  torn.  i»  p.  J206. 


3$0  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    female  societies,  who  lived  together  in  fixed  habi- 
raAXIV-     tations,  under  a  common  rule  of  pious  discipline 

I  AK  I    IT*  i         *  *       1  • 

and  virtuous  industry,  gave  rise  to  a  persecution 
of  these  people,  which  lasted  till  the  reformation 
by  Luther,  and  ruined  the  cause  both  of  the 
Beguines  and  Beghards  in  many  places.  For 
though  the  pope,  in  his  last  Constitution,  had 
permitted  pious  women  to  live  as  nuns  in  a  state 
of  celibacy,  with  or  without  taking  the  vow,  and 
refused  a  toleration  only  to  such  of  them  as  were 
corrupted  with  the  opinions  of  the  Brethren  of 
the  Free  Spirit ;  yet  the  vast  number  of  enemies 
which  the  Beguines  and  Beghards  had,  partly 
among  the  mechanics,  especially  the  weavers,  and 
partly  among  the  priests  and  monks,  took  a  handle 
from  the  Clementina  to  molest  the  Beguines  in 
their  houses,  to  seize  and  destroy  their  goods,  to 
offer  them  many  other  insults,  and  to  involve  the 
Beghards  in  the  like  persecution.  The  Roman 
pontiff,  John  XXII.  afforded  the  Beguines  some 
relief  under  these  oppressions,  in  the  year  1324,  by 
means  of  a  special  constitution,  in  which  he  gave 
a  favourable  explication  of  the  Clementina,  and 
ordered  that  the  goods,  chatties,  habitations,  and 
societies  of  the  innocent  Beguines  should  be  pre- 
served from  every  kind  of  violence  and  insult ; 
which  example  of  clemency  and  moderation  was 
afterwards  followed  by  other  popes.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Beguines,  in  hopes  of  disappoint- 
ing more  effectually  the  malicious  attempts  of 
their  enemies,  and  avoiding  their  snares,  embraced 
in  many  places  the  third  rule  of  St.  Francis,  and 
of  the  Augustines.  Yet  all  these  measures  in 
their  favour  could  not  prevent  the  loss  both  of 
their  reputation  and  substance ;  for  from  this 
time  they  were  oppressed  in  several  provinces  by 
the  magistrates,  the  clergy,  and  the  monks, 
who  had  cast  a  greedy  eye  upon  their  trea- 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  381 

sures,   and  were  extremely  eager  to   divide   the    CENT. 


VII.   Some   years   before   the   middle  of  this 
century,  while  Germany  and  many  other  parts 

T7  j-  x  VI,  l        VL-         the  *-Jagel- 

lirurope   were  distressed  with   various  calamities,  iants  a£ 
the    Flagellants,    a   sect   forgotten    almost    every  Pears  again- 
where,   and    especially  in  Germany,   made   their 
appearance  anew,   and,   rambling   through  many 
provinces,  occasioned  great  disturbances.     These 
new  Flagellants,  whose  enthusiasm  infected  every 
rank,  sex,  and  age,  were  much  worse  than  the 
old   ones.     They   not   only   supposed   that  God 
might  be  prevailed  upon  to  show  mercy  to  those 
who  underwent  voluntary  punishments,  but  pro- 
pagated other  tenets  highly  injurious  to  religion. 
They  held,  among  other  things,  "  That  flagella- 
"  tion  was  of  equal  virtue  with  baptism,  and  the 
"  other  sacraments :    that  the  forgiveness  of  all 
"  sins  was  to  be  obtained  by  it  from  God,  with- 
"  out  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ ;  that  the   old 
"  law  of  Christ  was   soon  to  be  abolished,   and 
"  that  a  new  law,  enjoining  the  baptism  of  blood, 
"to   be   administered   by   whipping,   was   to   be 
"  substituted    in   its    place,"    with    other   tenets 
more  or  less   enormous  than   these ;    whereupon 
Clement  VII.   thundered  out  anathemas  against 
the  Flagellants,  who  were  burnt  by  the  inquisitors 
in   several    places.     It   was,    however,    found    as 

(h)  I  have  collected  a  great  number  of  particulars  relat- 
ing to  this  long  persecution  of  the  Beguines.  But  the  most 
copious  of  all  the  writers  who  have  published  any  thing  upon 
this  subject  (especially  if  we  consider  his  account  of  the  per- 
secution at  Basil,  and  Mulbergius,  the  most  inveterate  enemy 
of  the  Beguines),  is  Christianus  Wurstisen,  or  Urstisius,  in 
his  Chronicum  Basiliense,  written  in  German,  lib.  iv.  cap.  ix. 
p.  201.  published  in  folio,  at  Basil,  1580.  There  are  now  in 
my  hands,  and  also  in  many  libraries,  MSS.  tracts  of  this 
celebrated  Mulbergius,  written  against  the  Beguines  in  the 
following  century. 


382  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    difficult   to   extirpate    them,   as  it    had   been   to 


XIV. 


PART  IT    suPPress  ^e  other  sects  of  wandering  fanatics  (/'). 
VI 1 1.  Directly  the  reverse  of  this  melancholy 


The  sect  of  sect  was  the  merry  one  of  the  Dancers,  which,  in 
s'the  year  1373,  arose  at  Aix-la-Chapelle,  from 
whence  it  spread  through  the  district  of  Liege, 
Hainault,  and  other  parts  of  Flanders.  It  was 
customary  among  the  fanatics  for  persons  of  both 
sexes,  publicly  as  well  as  in  private,  to  fall  a 
dancing  all  of  a  sudden,  and,  holding  each  others 
hands,  to  continue  their  motions  with  extraordi- 
nary violence,  till,  being  almost  suffocated,  they 
fell  down  breathless  together ;  and  they  affirmed, 
that  during  these  intervals  of  vehement  agita- 
tion, they  were  favoured  with  wonderful  visions. 
Like  the  Flagellants,  they  wandered  about  from 
place  to  place,  had  recourse  to  begging  for  their 
subsistence,  treated  with  the  utmost  contempt 
both  the  priesthood  and  the  public  rites  and  wor- 
ship of  the  church,  and  held  secret  assemblies. 
Such  was  the  nature,  and  such  the  circumstances 
of  this  new  frenzy;  which  the  ignorant  clergy  of 
this  age  looked  upon  as  the  work  of  evil  demons, 
who  possessed,  as  they  thought,  this  dancing  tribe. 
Accordingly,  the  priests  of  Liege  endeavoured  to 
cast  out  the  devils,  which  rendered  these  fanatics 
so  merry,  by  singing  hymns  and  applying  fumiga- 
tions of  incense  ;  and  they  gravely  tell  us,  that  the 
evil  spirit  was  entirely  vanquished  by  these  power- 
ful charms 


(i)  See  Baluzii  Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  160.  316. 
319.  et  Miscellan.  torn.  i.  p.  50. — Matthsei  Analecta  Vet.  JEvi, 
torn.  i.  p.  50.  torn.  iii.  p.  241.  torn.  iv.  p.  145. — Herm.  Gygis 
Flores  Tempor.  p..  139. 

(k)  See  Baluzii  Pontif".  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  485. — Ant. 
Matthaei  Analecta  Vet  JEvi,  torn.  i.  p.  51.  where  we  find  the 
following  passage  in  the  Belgic  chronicle,  which  gives  but  an 
obscure  account  of  the  sect  in  question :  A.  1374.  Gingen  de 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies. 

IX.  The   most  heinous  and  abominable  tribe    CENT. 
of  heretics  that  infected  this  century  (if  the  enor- 
mities with  which  they  stand  charged  be  true), 


were  the  Knights  Templars,  who  had  been  esta- The 
blished  in  Palestine  about  two  hundred  years  TempiaM 
before  this  period,  and  who  are  represented  as  ene-  extirpated. 
mies  and  deriders  of  all  religion.  Their  princi- 
pal accuser  indeed  was  a  person  whose  testimony 
ought  not  to  be  admitted  without  caution.  This 
accuser  was  Philip  the  Fair,  who  addressed  his 
complaints  of  the  Templars  to  Clement  V.  who 
was  himself  an  avaricious,  vindictive,  and  tur- 
bulent prince.  The  pope,  though  at  first  unwil- 
ling to  proceed  against  them,  was  under  a  neces- 
sity of  complying  with  the  king's  desire ;  so  that 
in  the  year  13(>7,  upon  an  appointed  day,  and 
for  some  time  afterwards,  all  the  knights,  who 
were  dispersed  throughout  Europe,  and  not  in 
the  least  apprehensive  of  any  impending  evil, 
were  seized  and  imprisoned.  Such  of  them  as 
refused  to  confess  the  enormities  of  which  they 
were  accused,  were  put  to  death  ;  and  those  who, 
by  tortures  and  promises,  were  induced  to  ac- 
knowledge the  truth  of  what  was  laid  to  their 
charge,  obtained  their  liberty.  In  the  year  1311, 
the  whole  order  was  extinguished  by  the  council 
of  Vienne.  A  part  of  the  rich  revenues  they  pos- 
sessed was  bestowed  upon  other  orders,  especially 
on  the  knights  of  St.  John,  now  of  Malta,  and  the 
rest  confiscated  to  the  respective  treasuries  of  the 
sovereign  princes  in  whose  dominions  their  pos- 
sessions lay. 

X.  The  Knights  Templars,  if  their  judges  be  The  intoie- 
worthy  of  credit,  were  a  set  of  men  who  insulted  rable  "?- 

i  J    .  /»    >r  'i  i  -i      •   •  i       piety  of  the 

the   majesty  or    Crod,   turned   into    derision   the  Knights 

Templars 

Ifancers,and  then  in  Latin,  Gens  impacata  cadit,  cruciatasal- is  assigned 
vat.     The  French  convulsionists  (or  prophets),  v/ho  in  our  as  the 
age  were  remarkable  for  the  vehemence  and  variety  of  their 
agitations,    greatly  resembled    these    brethren    and   sister  r-,ty. 
dancers. 


384  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  gospel  of  Christ,  and  trampled  upon  the  obligation 
°^  a^  ^aws  numan  an<^  divine.  For  it  is  affirmed 
that  candidates,  upon  their  admission  to  this 
order,  were  commanded  to  spit,  as  a  mark  of  con- 
tempt, upon  an  image  of  Christ  ;  and  that,  after 
admission,  they  were  bound  to  worship  either 
a  cat,  or  wooden  head  covered  with  gold.  It 
is  farther  affirmed,  that  among  them,  the  odious 
and  unnatural  act  of  Sodomy  was  a  matter  of 
obligation ;  that  they  committed  to  the  flames 
the  unhappy  fruit  of  their  lawless  amours  ;  and 
added  to  these,  other  crimes  too  horrible  to  be 
mentioned,  or  even  imagined.  It  will  indeed  be 
A  reflec-  readily  allowed  that  in  this  order,  as  in  all  the 
ce°rniCn°g"  other  religious  societies  of  this  age,  there  were 
the  crimes  shocking  examples  of  impiety  and  wickedness  ; 
but  that  the  whole  order  of  the  Templars  was 
thus  enormously  corrupt,  is  so  far  from  being 
proved,  that  the  contrary  may  be  concluded  even 
from  the  acts  and  records,  yet  extant,  of  the  tri- 
bunals before  which  they  were  tried  and  examined. 
,  If  to  this  we  add,  that  many  of  the  accusations 
advanced  against  them,  flatly  contradict  each  other, 
and  that  many  members  of  this  unfortunate  order 
solemnly  avowed  their  innocence,  while  languish- 
ing under  the  severest  tortures,  and  even  with 
their  dying  breath  ;  it  would  seem  probable,  that 
king  Philip  set  on  foot  this  bloody  tragedy,  with 
a  view  to  gratify  his  avarice,  and  glut  his  resent- 
ment against  the  Templars  (/),  and  especially 


(/)  See  the  Acts  annexed  to  Putean's  Histoire  de  la  Con- 
demnation des  Templiers,  and  other  writings  of  his,  relating 
to  the  history  of  France,  published  in  4to,  at  Paris,  1654.  An- 
other edition  of  this  book  was  printed  in  8vo,  at  Paris,  1685. 
Another  at  Brussels,  1713,  two  volumes  in  8vo.  The  fourth, 
and  most  valuable  of  all,  was  published  in  4to,  at  Brussels, 
1751,  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  a  great  number  of  proofs, 
by  which  every  diligent  and  impartial  reader  will  be  con- 
vinced that  the  Templars  were  greatly  injured.  See  also 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  385 


against  their  grand  master,  who  had  highly  of- 
fended  him.  PART  „, 


Nicolai  Gurtleri  Historia  Templariorum.  Amstelod.  1703,  in 
8vo.  If  the  reader  has  an  opportunity,  he  would  do  well  to 
consult  Steph.  Baluzius,  Vit.  Pontif.  Avenion.  torn.  i.  p.  8. 
11,  12,  &c.  Gerh.  du  Bois,  Histor.  Eccles.  Paris,  torn.  ii.  p. 
540.  The  principal  cause  or'  king  Philip's  indelible  hatred 
against  the  Templars  was,  that  in  his  quarrel  with  Boniface 
VIII.  the  knights  espoused  the  cause  of  the  pope,  and  fur- 
nished him  with  money  to  carry  on  the  war ;  an  offence  this, 
which  Philip  could  aever  pardon. 


VOL.  nr.  c  c 


THE 

FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 


PART  I. 

THE  EXTERNAL  HISTORY  OP  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Concerning  the  Prosperous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

CENT.        I.  THE  new  subjects,  that  were  added  to  the 
*    i    kingdom  of  Christ  in  this  century,  are  altogether 
unworthy  of  that  sublime  title,  unless  we  prosti- 


The  Moors  tute  it  by  applying  it  to  those  who  made  an 
converted  in  external,  though  insincere,  profession  of  Chris- 
Spainby  tianity.  Ferdinand,  surnamed  the  Catholic,  by 
the  conquest  of  Granada,  in  the  year  1492,  en- 
tirely overturned  the  dominion  of  the  Moors,  or 
Saracens  in  Spain.  Some  time  after  this  happy 
revolution,  he  issued  out  a  sentence  of  banishment 
against  a  prodigious  multitude  of  Jews,  who,  to 
avoid  the  execution  of  this  severe  decree,  dissem- 
bled their  sentiments,  and  feigned  an  assent  to 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  (a)  ;  and  it  is  well  known 
that  to  this  very  day,  there  are  both  in  Spain  and 
Portugal  a  great  number  of  that  dispersed  and 
wretched  people,  who  wear  the  outward  mask  of 
Christianity,  to  secure  them  against  the  rage  of 

(a)  Jo.  de  Ferreras,  Hist.  Generale  d'Espagne,  torn.  viii. 
p.  123.  132,  &c. 


CHAP.  r.  Prosperous  Events.  387 

persecution,    and   to   advance   their  worldly   in-    CENT. 
terests.     The  myriads  of  Saracens,  that  remained  PA^'j 

in  Spain  after  the  dissolution  of  their  government, 

were  at  first  solicited  by  exhortations  and  entrea- 
ties to  embrace  the  Gospel.  When  these  gentle 
methods  proved  ineffectual  to  bring  about  their 
conversion,  the  famous  Ximenes,  archbishop  of 
Toledo,  and  prime  minister  of  the  kingdom, 
judged  it  expedient  to  try  the  force  of  the 
secular  arm,  in  order  to  accomplish  that  salutary 
purpose.  But  even  this  rigorous  measure  was 
without  the  desired  effect:  the  greatest  part  of 
the  Mahometans  persisted,  with  astonishing  obsti- 
nacy, in  their  fervent  attachment  to  their  volup- 
tuous prophet  (&). 

II.  The  light  of  the  Gospel  was  also  carried  in  The  Samo- 
this  century  among  the  Samogetae  and  the  neigh- 
bouring  nations,  but  with  less  fruit  than  was  ex- verted. 
pected  (c).  Towards  the  conclusion  of  this  age, 
the  Portuguese,  who  cultivated  with  ardour  and 
success  the  art  of  navigation,  had  penetrated  as 
far  as  Ethiopia  and  the  Indies.  In  the  year  1492, 
Christopher  Columbus,  by  discovering  the  islands 
of  Hispaniola,  Cuba,  and  Jamaica,  opened  a 
passage  into  America  (cT),  and  after  him,  Ameri- 
cus  Vesputius,  a  citizen  of  Florence,  landed  on  the 
continent  of  that  vast  region  (e).  The  new  Argo- 
nauts, who  discovered  these  nations  that  had  been 
hitherto  unknown  to  the  inhabitants  of  Europe, 
judged  it  their  duty  to  enlighten  them  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth.  The  first  attempt  of 

(b)  Esprit  Flechier.  Histoire  du  Cardinal  Ximenes,  p.  89. 
— Geddes,  History  of  the  Expulsion  of  the  Moriscoes,  in 
his  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  torn.  i.  p.  8. 

(c)  Jo.  Henry  Hottinger,  Hist.  Ecclesiast.  Saec.  xv.  p. 
856.  i 

(d)  See  Charlevoix,  Histoire  de  lisle  de  St.  Domingo, 
torn.  i.p.  64. 

(e)  See  the  Life  of  Americus  Vesputius,  written  in  Ita- 
lian, by  the  learned  Angeli  Maria  Bandini. 

C  C  2 


PART  I. 


388  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  this  pious  nature  was  made  by  the  Portuguese 
among  those  Africans,  who  inhabit  the  kingdom 
of  Congo,  and  who,  together  with  their  monarch, 
were  converted  all  of  a  sudden  to  the  Roman 
faith  in  the  year  1491  •(,/)•  But  wnat  must  we 
think  of  a  conversion  brought  about  with  such 
astonishing  rapidity,  and  of  a  people  which  all  at 
once,  without  hesitation,  abandon  their  ancient 
and  inveterate  prejudices  ?  Has  not  such  a  con- 
version a  ridiculous  or  rather  an  afflicting  aspect? 
After  this  religious  revolution  in  Africa,  Alex- 
ander VI.  gave  a  rare  specimen  of  papal  pre- 
sumption, in  dividing  America  between  the  Por- 
tuguese and  Spaniards,  but  showed  at  the  same 
time  his  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel, 
by  the  ardour  with  which  he  recommended  to 
these  two  nations,  the  instruction  and  conversion 
of  the  Americans,  both  in  the  isles  and  on  the 
continent  of  that  immense  region  Q>*).  In  con- 
sequence of  this  exhortation  of  the  pontiff,  a  great 
number  of  Franciscans  and  Dominicans  were  sent 
into  these  countries  to  enlighten  their  darkness, 
and  the  success  of  their  missions  is  abundantly 
known 


(f)  Labat,  Relation  de  1'Ethiope  Occidentale,  torn.  ii.  p. 
366.  —  Jos.  Franc.  Lafitau,  Histoire  des  Decouvertes  ct  Con- 
quetes  des  Portugais  dans  le  Nouveau  Monde,  torn.  i.  p.  72. 

(g)  See  the  Bull  itself,  in  the  Bullarium  Romanum,  torn. 
i.  p.  4-66. 

(h)  See  Thorn.  Maria  Mamachius,  Orig.  et  Antiquitat. 
Christianor.  torn.  ii.  p.  326.  where  we  have  an  account  of 
the  gradual  introduction  of  the  Christian  religion  into  Ame- 
rica. —  See  also  Wadding.  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  xv.  p.  10. 


CHAP.  n.  Calamitous  Events.  389 


CHAPTER  II. 


Concerning  the  Calamitous  Events  that  happened 
to  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  IN  the  vast  regions  of  the  eastern  world, 
Christianity  lost  ground  from   day  to  day,  and   P^R^  I( 
the    Mahometans,   whether    Turks    or    Tartars, 


united  their  barbarous  efforts  to  extinguish  its  J 
bright  and  salutary  lustre.  Asiatic  Tartary,  Mo-  anity  in  the 
gol,  Tangut,  and  the  adjacent  provinces,  where  East< 
the  religion  of  Jesus  long  flourished,  were 
now  become  the  dismal  seats  of  superstition,  which 
reigned  among  them,  under  the  vilest  forms. 
Nor  in  these  immense  tracts  of  land  were  there 
at  this  time  any  traces  of  Christianity  visible, 
except  in  China,  where  the  Nestorians  still  pre- 
served some  scattered  remains  of  their  former 
glory,  and  appeared  like  a  faint  and  dying  taper  in 
the  midst  of  a  dark  and  gloomy  firmament.  That 
some  Nestorian  churches  were  still  subsisting  in 
these  regions  of  darkness  is  undoubtedly  certain, 
for  in  this  century  the  Nestorian  pontiff,  in  Chal- 
dea,  sent  missionaries  into  Cathay  and  China, 
who  were  empowered  to  exercise  the  authority  of 
bishops  over  the  Christian  assemblies,  which  lay 
concealed  in  the  remoter  provinces  of  these  great 
empires,  (f).  It  is,  at  the  same  time,  almost 
equally  certain,  that  even  these  assemblies  did  not 
survive  this  century. 

II.  The  ruin  of  the  Grecian  empire  was  a  new  Constant!. 
source  of  calamities  to  the  Christian  church  in  the  J^1,^60 
greatest  part  of  Europe  and  Asia.  When  the  Turks,  Turks. 
headed  by  Mahomet  II.   an  accomplished  prince 
and  a  formidable  warrior,  had  made  themselves 

(i)  This  circumstance  was  communicated  to  the  author  in 
a  letter  from  the  learned  Mr.  Theophilus  Sigifred  Bayer, 
one  of*  the  greatest  adepts  in  eastern  history  and  antiqui- 
ties, that  this  or  any  other  age  has  produced. 


390  The  External  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    masters  of  Constantinople,  in  the  year  1453  ;  the 
PAST  i    cause  °f  Christianity  received  a  blow,  from  which 

L  it  has  never,  as  yet,  recovered.     Its  adherents  in 

these  parts  had  no  resources  left,  which  could 
enable  them  to  maintain  it  against  the  perpetual 
insults  of  their  fierce  and  incensed  victors  ;  nor 
could  they  stem  that  torrent  of  barbarism  and 
ignorance  that  rushed  in  with  the  triumphant  arms 
of  Mahomet,  and  overspread  Greece  with  a  fatal 
rapidity.  The  Turks  took  one  part  of  the  city 
of  Constantinople  by  force  of  arms ;  the  other 
surrendered  upon  terms  (/<:).  Hence  it  was,  that  in 
the  former,  the  public  profession  of  the  Gospel 
was  prohibited,  and  every  vestige  of  Christianity 
effaced  ;  while  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  were 
permitted  to  retain  their  churches  and  monasteries 
during  the  whole  course  of  this  century,  and  to 
worship  God  according  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Gospel,  and  the  dictates  of  their  consciences.  This 
precious  liberty  was,  indeed,  considerably  dimi- 
nished under  the  reign  of  Selim  I.  and  the  Chris- 
tian worship  was  loaded  with  severe  and  despotic 
restrictions  (/).  The  outward  form  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  was  not,  indeed,  either  changed  or  de- 
stroyed by  the  Turks  ;  but  its  lustre  was  eclipsed, 
its  strength  was  undermined,  and  it  was  gradually 
extenuated  to  a  mere  shadow  under  their  tyrannic 
empire.  The  Roman  pontiff  Pius  II.  wrote  a  warm 
and  urgent  letter  to  Mahomet  II.  to  persuade  that 
prince  to  profess  the  Gospel ;  but  this  letter  is 
equally  destitute  of  piety  and  prudence  (nT). 

jgg°  (k)  In  this  account  Dr.  Mosheim  has  followed  the 
Turkish  writers.  And  indeed  their  account  is  much  more 
probable  than  that  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  historians,  who 
suppose  that  the  whole  city  was  taken  by  force,  and  not  by 
capitulation.  The  Turkish  relation  diminishes  the  glory  of 
their  conquest,  and  therefore  probably  would  not  have  been 
adopted,  had  it  not  been  true. 

(1)  Demet  Cantemir,  Histoire  de  1'Empire  Ottoman,  torn, 
i.  p.  11.46.54,55. 

(m)  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Mahomet  II. 


391 
PART  II. 

THE  INTERNAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Concerning  the  State  of  Letters  and  Philosophy 
during  this  Century. 

I.  THE  Grecian  and  Oriental  Muses  languished    CENT. 
under    the   despotic    yoke    of  the    Mahometans,      xv- 
their   voices   were    mute,   and    their    harps    un-  PA1" 


strung.  The  republic  of  letters  had  a  quite  Learning 
different  aspect  in  the  Latin  world,  where  the  ^sht" 
liberal  arts  and  sciences  were  cultivated  with  Latins. 
zeal  and  spirit,  under  the  most  auspicious  encou- 
ragements, and  recovered  their  ancient  lustre  and 
glory.  Several  of  the  popes  became  their  zealous 
patrons  and  protectors,  among  whom  Nicholas  V. 
deserves  an  eminent  and  distinguished  rank ; 
the  munificence  and  authority  of  kings  and 
princes  were  also  nobly  exerted  in  this  excellent 
cause,  and  animated  men  of  learning  and  genius 
to  display  their  talents.  The  illustrious  family  of 
the  Medicis  in  Italy  (n\  Alphonsus  VI.  king 
of  Naples,  and  the  other  Neapolitan  monarchs  of 
the  house  of  Arragon  (o),  acquired  immortal 

(n)  We  have  a  full  account  of  the  obligations  which  the 
republic  of  letters  has  to  the  family  of  Medicis,  in  a  valuable 
work  of  Joseph  Bianchini  de  Prato,  Del  gran  Duchi  de  To- 
scana  della  nealle  Casa  de  Medici,  Protettori  delle  Lettere 
et  delle  Belle  Arti,  Ragionamenti  Historici,  published  in 
folio  at  Venice,  in  174-1. 

(o)  See  Giannone,  Histoire  Civile  du  Royaume  de  Naples, 
torn.  iii.  p.  500.  628. — Anton.  Panormitani,  Dicta  et  Facta 
Memorabilia  Alphonsi  I.  denuo  edita  a  Jo.  Gerh.  Meusche- 
nio,  Vit.  Erud.  Viror.  torn.  ii.  p.  1. 


392  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  renown  by  their  love  of  letters,  their  liberality  to 
PART"  H  t^ie  ^earned,  and  their  ardent  zeal  for  the  advance- 

1  ment  of  science.  Hence,  the  academies  that  were 

founded  in  Germany,  France,  and  Italy,  the  libra- 
ries that  were  collected  at  a  prodigious  expense, 
and  the  honours  and  rewards  that  were  proposed 
to  the  studious  youth,  to  animate  their  industry 
by  the  views  of  interest  and  the  desire  of  glory. 
To  all  these  happy  circumstances,  in  favour  of 
the  sciences,  was  now  added  an  admirable  disco- 
very, which  contributed  as  much  as  any  thing  else 
to  their  propagation,  I  mean  the  art  of  print- 
ing, first  with  wooden  and  afterwards  with  metal 
types,  which  was  invented  about  the  year  1440, 
at  Mentz,  by  John  Guttemberg.  By  the  suc- 
cours of  this  incomparable  art,  the  productions 
of  the  most  eminent  Greek  and  Latin  writers, 
which  had  lain  concealed,  before  this  interesting 
period,  in  the  libraries  of  the  monks,  were  now 
spread  abroad  with  facility,  and  perused  by  many, 
who  could  never  have  had  access  to  them  under 
their  primitive  form  (p).  The  perusal  of  these 


(p)  Dr.  Mosheim  decides  here,  that  Guttemberg  of 

Mentz  was  the  first  inventor  of  the  art  of  printing;  but  this 
notion  is  opposed  with  zeal  by  several  men  of  learning. 
Among  the  many  treatises  that  have  been  published  upon 
this  subject,  there  is  none  composed  with  more  erudition  and 
judgment  than  that  of  professor  Schoepflin,  of  Strasbourg,  in 
which  the  learned  author  undertakes  to  prove  that  the  art  of 
printing,  by  the  means  of  letters  engraven  on  plates  of  wood, 
was  invented  at  Haerlem,  by  Coster  j  that  the  method  of 
printing,  by  moveable  types,  was  the  discovery  of  John  Gut- 
temberg, a  discovery  made  during  his  residence  at  Stras- 
bourg ;  and  that  the  still  more  perfect  manner  of  printing  with 
types  of  metal  cast  in  a  mould  was  the  contrivance  of  John 
Schoefter,  and  was  first  practised  at  Mentz.  This  learned 
work,  in  which  the  author  examines  the  opinions  of  Mar- 
chand,  Fournier,  and  other  writers,  was  published  in  the 
year  1760,  at  Strasbourg,  under  the  following  title  :  Jo.Da- 
nielis  Schoepflini  Consil.  Reg.  ac  Franciae  Historiogr.  Vindi- 
ciee  Typographic^  *,  &c. 

C3-  *  So  this  note  stands  in   the  first  edition  of   this  History,   in  4 to. 
since   that   time,  the  very  learned  and  ingenious   Mr.    Gerard  Meerman, 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  393 

noble  compositions  purified  the  taste,  excited  the    CENT. 
emulation  of  men  of  genius,  and  animated  them 
with  a  noble  ambition  of  excelling  in  the  same 
way  (q). 

II.  The  downfal  of  the  Grecian  empire  eontri-  The  calami. 
buted  greatly  to  the   propagation  and  advance-  oTee^con- 
ment   of  learning  in  the  west.      For,  after  the  duce  to  the 
reduction  of  Constantinople,  the  most  eminent  of  menToT 
the  Greek  literati  passed  into   Italy,    and    were  le^™ffh 
from  thence  dispersed  into  the  other  countries  of  Latins. 
Europe,  where,  to  gain  subsistence,  these  venerable 
exiles  instructed  everywhere  the  youth  in  Grecian 
erudition,  and  propagated  throughout  the  western 
world  the  love  of  learning,  and  a  true  and  elegant 
taste  for  the  sciences.     Hence  it  was,  that  every 
noted  city  and  university,  possessed  one  or  more 
of  these  learned  Greeks,  who  formed  the  studious 
youth  to  literary  pursuits  (r).     But  they  received 
no  where  such  encouraging  marks  of  protection 
and  esteem  as  in  Italy,  where  they  were  honoured 
in  a  singular  manner  in  various  cities,  and  were 
more    especially    distinguished  by  the  family  of 
Medicis,  whose  liberality  to  the  learned  had  no 
bounds.     It  was  consequently  in  Italy  that  these 
ingenious    fugitives   were   most   numerous ;    and 
hence  that  country  became,  in  some  measure,  the 
centre  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  the  general 

(<y)  iVlich.  Mattaire  Annales  Typographici. — Prosp.  Mar- 
chand,  Histoire  de  1'Imprimerie.  Haye,  1740. 

(r)  Jo.  Henr.  Maii  Vita  Reuchlini,  p.  11.  13.  19.  28.  152, 
153.  165.— Gasp.  Barthius  ad  Statium,  torn.  ii.  p.  1008. — 
Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  torn.  v.  p.  692. 

pensionary  of  Rotterdam,  has  published  his  laborious  and  interesting  account 
of  the  origin  and  invention  of  the  art  of  printing,  under  the  fallowing  title, 
"  Origines  Typographicae,"  which  sets  this  matter  in  its  true  light,  by 
making  certain  distinctions  unknown  to  the  writers  who  have  treated  this 
subject  before  him.  According  to  the  hypothesis  of  this  learned  writer  (an 
hypothesis  supported  by  irresistible  proofs),  Laurent.  Coster,  of  Haerlem, 
invented  the  moveable  wooden  types. — Genfleish  and  Guttemberg  carved 
metallic  types  at  Mentz,  which,  though  superior  to  the  former,  were  still 
imperfect,  because  often  unequal.— Schoeffer  perfected  the  invention  at 
Strasburg,  by  casting  the  types  in  an  iron  mould,  or  matrix,  engraved  with  a 
puncheon.  Thus,  the  question  is  decided.— Laurent.  Coster  is  evidently  the 
inventor  of  printing ;  the  others  only  rendered  the  art  more  perfect. 


394-  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    rendezvous  of  all  who  were  ambitious  of  literary 


PART  ii      oiT 
,  -  ,      III. 


The  greatest  part  of  the  learned  men,  who 


Philology,  adorned  at  this  time  the  various  provinces  of  Italy, 
iPa°ngS^esd  were  principally  employed  in  publishing  accurate 
cultivated,  and  elegant  editions  of  the  most  eminent  Greek 
and  Latin  authors,  illustrating  these  authors  with 
useful  commentaries,  in  studying  them  as  their 
models,  both  in  poetry  and  prose,  and  in  casting 
light  upon  the  precious  remains  of  antiquity,  that 
were  discovered  from  day  to  day.  In  all  these 
branches  of  literature,  many  arrived  at  such 
degrees  of  excellence,  as  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
surpass,  and  extremely  difficult  to  equal.  Nor 
were  the  other  languages  and  sciences  neglected. 
In  the  university  of  Paris,  there  was  now  a  public 
professor,  not  only  of  the  Greek,  but  also  of  the 
Hebrew  tongue  (/)  ;.  and  in  Spain  and  Italy  the 
study  of  that  language,  and  of  Oriental  learning 
and  antiquities  in  general,  was  pursued  with  the 
greatest  success  (iT).  John  Reuchlinus,  otherwise 
called  Capnion,  and  Trithemius,  who  had  made  a 
vast  progress,  both  in  the  study  of  the  languages 
and  of  the  sciences,  were  the  restorers  of  solid 
learning  among  the  Germans  (w).  Latin  poetry 

(s)  For  a  further  account  of  this  interesting  period  of  the 
history  of  learning,  the  reader  may  consult  the  learned 
Work  of  Humphr.  Hody,  De  Graecis  Illustrious  Literarum 
Instauratoribus,  published  in  8vo,  at  London,  in  174-2,  by 
Mr.  Samuel  Jebb  j  as  also  the  most  accurate  and  entertaining 
treatise  of  Mr.  Christian  Frederic  Borner,  De  doctis  Homini- 
bus  Graecis  Literarum  Grsecarum  in  Italia  Instauratoribus, 
published  in  8vo,  at  Leipsic,  in  the  year  1750.  To  which 
may  be  added,  Sana.  Battierii  Oratio  de  Instauratoribus 
Graecarum  Literarum,  published  in  the  Museum  Helveticum, 
torn.  iv.  p.  163. 

(t)  R.  Simon,  Critique  de  la  Bibl.  Eccles.  par  Du  Pin,  torn. 
i.  p.  502.  512.  —  Boulay,  Histor.  Paris,  torn.  v.  p.  85C2. 

(u)  Pauli  Colomesii  Italia  Orientals,  p.  4.  et  Hispania 
Oriental  is,  p.  2  12. 

(u>)  R.  Simon,  Lettres  Choisies,  torn.  i.  p.  262.  torn,  iv.  p. 
131.14-0. 


CHAP.  -i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  395 

was  revived  by  Antonius  Panormitanus,  who  ex-    CENT. 
J  xv. 

PART  II. 


cited  a  spirit  of  emulation  among  the  favourites 


of  the  Muses,  and  had  many  followers  in  that 
sublime  art  (>) ;  while  Cyriac  of  Ancona,  by  his 
own  example,  introduced  a  taste  for  coins,  medals, 
inscriptions,  gems,  and  other  precious  monuments 
of  antiquity,  of  which  he  himself  made  a  large 
collection  in  Italy  (y). 

IV.  It  is  not  necessary  to  give  here  a  peculiar  The  state  oi 
and  minute  account  of  the  other  branches  of  lite-  {^"SJ" 
rature  that  flourished  in  this  century ;  neverthe-  Platonic 
less,  the  state  of  philosophy  deserves  a  moment's  Phllos°Phy- 
attention.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Greeks  in 
Italy,  Aristotle  reigned  unrivalled  there,  and  cap- 
tivated, as  it  were  by  a  sort  of  enchantment,  all 
without  exception,  whose  genius  led  them  to  philo- 
sophical inquiries.  The  veneration  that  was  shown 
him  degenerated  into  a  foolish  and  extravagant 
enthusiasm  ;  the  encomiums  with  which  he  was 
loaded  surpassed  the  bounds  of  decency  ;  and 
many  carried  matters  so  far  as  to  compare  him 
with  the  respectable  precursor  of  the  Messiah  (2). 
This  violent  passion  for  the  Stagirite  was  however 
abated,  or  rather  was  rendered  less  universal, 
by  the  influence  which  the  Grecian  sages,  and 
particularly  Gemestius  Pletho,  acquired  among 
the  Latins,  many  of  whom  they  persuaded  to 
abandon  the  contentions  and  subtile  doctrine  of 
the  Peripatetics,  and  to  substitute  in  its  place 
the  mild  and  divine  wisdom  of  Plato.v  It  was  in 

(x)  Bayle's  Dictionary,  at  the  article  Panormit. 

(y)  See  the  Itinerarium  of  Cyriac  of  Ancona,  published 
at  Florence  in  the  year  1742,  in  Svo,  by  Mr.  Laurence  Me- 
hus,  from  the  original  manuscript,  together  with  a  Preface, 
Annotations,  and  several  letters  of  this  learned  man,  who 
may  be  considered  as  the  first  antiquarian  that  appeared  in 
Europe. — See  also  Leon.  Aretini  Epistolae.  torn.  ii.  lib.  ix.  p. 
149. 

(z)  See  Christ.  Aug.  Heumanni  Acta  Philosophorum,  torn, 
iii.  p.  34-5. 


396  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the   year    1439,    about   the  time  of  the  famous 
*v-     council  of  Florence,  that  this  revolution  happened 

JrAKTII.  ,  .  ^        ,    .,  »  ~  -i      «-n  • 

in  the  empire  of  philosophy.  Several  illustrious 
personages  among  the  Latins,  charmed  with  the 
sublime  sentiments  and  doctrines  of  Plato,  had 
them  propagated  among  the  studious  youth,  and 
particularly  among  those  of  a  certain  rank  and 
figure.  The  most  eminent  patron  of  this  divine 
philosophy,  as  it  was  termed  by  its  votaries,  was 
Cosmo  de  Medicis,  who  had  no  sooner  heard  the 
lectures  of  Pletho,  than  he  formed  the  design  of 
founding  a  Platonic  Academy  at  Florence.  For 
this  purpose,  he  ordered  Marsilius  Ficinus,  the 
son  of  his  first  physician,  to  be  carefully  instructed 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  Athenian  sage,  and,  in 
general,  in  the  language  and  philology  of  the 
Greeks,  that  he  might  translate  into  Latin  the 
productions  of  the  most  renowned  Platonists. 
Ficinus  answered  well  the  expectations,  and 
executed  the  intentions  of  his  illustrious  patron, 
by  translating  successively  into  the  Latin  language 
the  celebrated  works  of  Hermes  Trismegistus, 
Plotinus,  and  Plato.  The  same  excellent  prince, 
encouraged  by  his  munificence,  and  animated 
by  his  protection,  many  learned  men,  such  as 
Ambrose  of  Camaldoli,  Leonardo  Bruno,  Pogge, 
and  others,  to  undertake  works  of  a  like  nature, 
even  to  enrich  the  Latin  literature  with  transla- 
tions of  the  best  Greek  writers.  The  consequence 
of  all  this  was,  that  two  philosophical  sects  arose 
in  Italy,  who  debated  for  a  long  time  (with  the 
warmest  animosity  in  a  multitude  of  learned  and 
contentious  productions)  this  important  question, 
which  of  the  two  was  the  greatest  philosopher, 
Aristotle  or  Plato  (a)  ? 


(a)  Boivin,  dans  1'Histoire  de  FAcademie  des  Inscriptions 
et  des  Belles  Lettres,  torn.  iv.  p.  381 . — Launois,  De  varia  For- 
tuna  Aristotelis,  p.  225. — Leo.  Allatius,  De  Georgiis,  p.  391. 


CHAP.  i.      Learning  and  Philosophy.  397 

V.  Between  these  two  opposite  factions,  certain    CENT. 
eminent  men,   among  both  Greeks  and  Latins, 

thought  proper  to  steer  a  middle  course.     To  this _J 

class  belong  Johannes  Picus  de  Mirandola,  Bes-  The 
sarion,  Hermolaus  Barbaras,  and  others  of  less 
renown,  who,  indeed,  considered  Plato  as  the 
supreme  oracle  of  philosophy,  but  would  by  no 
means  suffer  Aristotle  to  be  treated  with  indif- 
ference or  contempt,  and  who  proposed  to  re- 
concile the  jarring  doctrines  of  these  two  famous 
Grecian  sages,  and  to  combine  them  into  one 
system.  These  moderate  philosophers,  both  in 
their  manner  of  teaching,  and  in  the  opinions  they 
adopted,  followed  the  modern  Platonic  school, 
of  which  Ammonius  was  the  original  founder  (&). 
This  sect  was,  for  a  long  time,  held  in  the  utmost 
veneration,  particularly  among  the  Mystics  ;  while 
the  scholastic  doctors,  and  all  such  as  were  in- 
fected with  the  itch  of  disputing,  favoured  the 
Peripatetics.  But,  after  all,  these  reconciling 
Platonists  were  chargeable  with  many  errors  and 
follies  ;  they  fell  into  the  most  childish  supersti- 
tions, and  followed,  without  either  reflection  or 
restraint,  the  extravagant  dictates  of  their  wanton 
imaginations. 

— La  Croze,  Entretiens  sur  divers  Sujets,  p.  384. — Joseph 
Bianchini,  in  his  account  of  the  protection  granted  to  the 
learned  by  the  house  of  Medicis,  which  we  have  mentioned 
note  (w). — Bruckeri  Historia  Critica  Philosophise,  torn.  iv.  p. 
62. 

IfSp0  It  was  not  only  the  respective  merit  of  these  two 
philosophers,  considered  in  that  point  of  light,  that  was  de- 
bated in  this  controversy  :  The  principal  question  was,  which 
of  their  systems  was  most  conformable  to  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  ?  And  here  the  Platonic  most  certainly  deserved 
the  preference,  as  was  abundantly  proved  by  Pletho  and 
others.  It  is  well  known,  that  many  of  the  opinions  of  Ari- 
stotle lead  directly  to  Atheism. 

(6)  See  Bessarion's  Letter  in  the  Histoire  de  1' Academic 
des  Inscriptions  et  des  Belles  Lettres,  torn.  v.  p.  456. — Tho- 
masius,  De  Syncretismo  Peripatetico,  in  Orationibus  ejus,  p. 
340. 


398  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        VI.  Their  system  of  philosophy  was,  however, 
0A*I\r  much  less  pernicious  than  that  of  the  Aristotelians, 
their  adversaries,  who  still  maintained  their  supe- 


The  foi-  riority  in  Italy,  and  instructed  the  youth  in  all 
Aristotle  tne  public  schools  of  learning.  For  these  subtile 
maintain  doctors,  and  more  especially  the  followers  of 
riority!lpe  Averroes  (who  maintained  that  all  the  human  race 
were  animated  by  one  common  soul)  sapped  im- 
perceptibly the  foundations  of  both  natural  and 
revealed  religion,  and  entertained  sentiments  very 
little,  if  it  at  all,  different  from  that  impious  pan- 
theistical system,  which  confounds  the  Deity  with 
the  universe,  and  acknowledges  but  one  self- 
existent  being,  composed  of  infinite  matter  and 
infinite  intelligence.  The  most  eminent  among 
this  class  of  sophists  was  Peter  Pomponace,  a  native 
of  Mantua,  a  man  of  a  crafty  turn,  and  an  arro- 
gant enterprising  spirit,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  pernicious  tendency  of  his  writings  (many  of 
which  are  yet  extant)  to  undermine  the  principles, 
and  to  corrupt  the  doctrines  of  religion  (c),  was 
almost  universally  followed  by  all  the  professors 
of  philosophy  in  the  Italian  academies.  These 
intricate  doctors  did  not,  however,  escape  the 
notice  of  the  inquisitors,  who,  alarmed  both  by 
the  rapid  progress  and  dangerous  tendency  of 
their  metaphysical  notions,  took  cognizance  of 
them,  and  called  the  Aristotelians  to  give  an 
account  of  their  principles.  The  latter,  tempering 
their  courage  with  craft,  had  recourse  to  a  mean 
and  perfidious  stratagem  to  extricate  themselves 
out  of  this  embarrassing  trial.  They  pretended  to 
establish  a  wide  distinction  between  philosophical 
and  theological  truth  ;  and  maintaining  that  their 
sentiments  were  philosophically  true,  and  con- 
formable to  right  reason,  they  allowed  them  to 
be  esteemed  theologically  false,  and  contrary  to 

(c)  See  the  very  learned  Brucker's  Historia  Critica  Philo- 
sophies, torn,  iv.  p.  158. 


CHAP.  i.       Learning  and  Philosophy.  399 

the  declarations  of  the  Gospel.    This  miserable  and    CENT. 
impudent  subterfuge  was  condemned  and  prohi-  ^^m 

bited  in  the  following  century,  by  Leo  X.  in  a 

council  held  at  the  Lateran. 

VII.  The  Realists  and  Nominalists  continued  The  con- 
their  disputes  in  France  and  Germany  with  more  ^*™l 
vigour  and  animosity  than  ever ;  and  finding  the  Realists 
reason  and  argument  but  feeble  weapons,  they  had  "" 
recourse  to  mutual  invectives  and  accusations,  tinued. 
penal  laws,  and  even  to  the  force  of  arms ;  a 
strange  method,  surely,  of  deciding  a  metaphysical 
question.  The  contest  was  not  only  warm,  but 
also  universal  in  its  extent ;  for  it  infected,  almost 
without  exception,  all  the  French  and  German 
academies.  In  most  places,  however,  the  Realists 
maintained  a  manifest  superiority  over  the  Nomi- 
nalists, to  whom  they  also  gave  the  appellation 
of  Terminists  (</).  While  the  famous  Gerson 
and  the  most  eminent  of  his  disciples  were  living, 
the  Nominalists  were  in  high  esteem  and  credit 
in  the  university  of  Paris.  But,  upon  the  death 
of  these  powerful  and  respectable  patrons,  the  face 
of  things  was  entirely  changed,  and  that  much 
to  their  disadvantage.  In  the  year  1473,  Lewis 
XL  by  the  instigation  of  his  confessor  the  bishop 
of  Avranches,  issued  out  a  severe  edict  against 
the  doctrines  of  the  Nominalists,  and  ordered 
all  their  writings  to  be  seized,  arid  secured  in  a 
sort  of  imprisonment,  that  they  might  not  be 
perused  by  the  people  (e).  But  the  same  monarch 
mitigated  this  edict  the  year  following,  and  per- 
mitted some  of  the  books  of  that  sect  to  be  de- 

(d)  See  Brucker's  Historia  Critica  Philosophise,  torn.  iii. 
p.  904?. — Jo.  Salaberti  Philosophia   Nominalium  Vindicata, 
cap.  i.  Baluzii  Miscellan.  torn.  iv.  p.  531. — Argentre,  Collectio 
Documentor,  de  Novis  Erroribus,  torn.  i.  p.  220. 

(e)  Naude's  Additions  a  1'Histoire  de  Louis  XI.  p.  203. — 
Du  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  v.  p.  678.  705.  708. — 
Launoy's  Histor.  Gymnas.  Navarr.  torn.  iv.  opp.  part.  I.  p. 
201.  378. 


400  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    livered  from  their  confinement  (/).     In  the  year 
PART  ii    1481>    ne    went    mucn    farther;    and    not    only 

L  granted  a  full  liberty  to  the  Nominalists  and  their 

writings,  but  also  restored  that  philosophical  sect 
to  its  former  authority  and  lustre  in  the  univer- 
sity (g). 


CHAPTER  II. 

Concerning  the  Doctors  and  Ministers  of  the 
Church,  and  its  Form  of  Government  during 
this  Century. 

The  vices  I.  THE  most  eminent  writers  of  this  century 
ofthecier-  unanimously  lament  the  miserable  condition  to 
which  the  Christian  church  was  reduced  by  the 
corruption  of  its  ministers,  and  which  seemed  to 
portend  nothing  less  than  its  total  ruin,  if  Pro- 
vidence did  not  interpose,  by  extraordinary  means, 
for  its  deliverance  and  preservation.  The  vices 
that  reigned  among  the  Roman  pontiffs,  and, 
indeed,  among  all  the  ecclesiastical  order,  were  so 
flagrant,  that  the  complaints  of  these  good  men 
did  not  appear  at  all  exaggerated,  or  their  appre- 
hensions ill-founded  ;  nor  had  any  of  the  corrupt 
advocates  of  the  clergy  the  courage  to  call  them 
to  an  account  for  the  sharpness  of  their  censures 
and  of  their  complaints.  Nay,  the  more  eminent 
rulers  of  the  church,  who  lived  in  a  luxurious 
indolence,  and  in  the  infamous  practice  of  all 
kinds  of  vice,  were  obliged  to  hear  with  a  placid 
countenance,  and  even  to  commend,  these  bold 
censors  who  declaimed  against  the  degeneracy 
of  the  church,  declared  that  there  was  almost 


(f)  Boulay,  loc.  cit.  torn.  v.  p.  710. 

(g)  The  proofs  of  this  we  find  in  Salabert's  Philosophia 
Nominal.  Vindicata,   cap.  i.  p.  101. — Sec  also  Boulay,  loc. 
cit.  torn.  v.  p.  739.  747. 


CHAP.  ir.   Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

nothing  sound,  either  in  its  visible  head,  or  in  its  CENT. 
members,  and  demanded  the  aid  of  the  secular 
arm  and  the  destroying  sword  to  lop  off  the  parts 
that  were  infected  with  this  grievous  and  deplor- 
able contagion.  Things,  in  short,  were  brought 
to  such  a  pass,  that  they  were  deemed  the  best 
Christians,  and  the  most  useful  members  of  society, 
who,  braving  the  terrors  of  persecution,  and 
triumphing  over  the  fear  of  man,  inveighed  with 
the  greatest  freedom  and  fervour  against  the  court 
of  Rome,  its  lordly  pontiff,  and  the  whole  tribe  of 
his  followers  and  votaries. 

II.  At   the  commencement   of   this   century,  The  great 
the    Latin    church   was   divided   into   two   great  we,s.tern, 

.  o  scmsm  to- 

factions,  and  was  governed  by  two  contending  merited  and 
pontiffs,  Boniface  IX.  who  remained  at  Home,  and  contmueiU 
Benedict  XIII.  who  resided  at  Avignon.  Upon 
the  death  of  the  former,  the  cardinals  of  his  party 
raised  to  the  pontificate,  in  the  year  1404,  Cosmat 
de  Meliorati,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Innocent 
VII.  (//),  and  held  that  high  dignity  during  the 
short  space  of  two  years  only.  After  his  de- 
cease, Angeli  Corrario,  a  Venetian  cardinal,  was 
chosen  in  his  room,  and  ruled  the  Roman  faction 
under  the  title  of  Gregory  XII.  A  plan  of 
reconciliation  was  however  formed,  and  the  con- 
tending pontiffs  bound  themselves,  each  by  an 
oath,  to  make  a  voluntary  renunciation  of  the 
papal  chair,  if  that  step  were  necessary  to  pro- 
mote the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  church ;  but 
they  both  violated  this  solemn  obligation  in  a 
scandalous  manner.  Benedict  XIII.  besieged 

(h)  Besides  the  ordinary  writers,  who  have  given  us  an 
account  of  the  transactions  that  happened  under  the  pontifi- 
cate of  Innocent  VII.  see  Leon.  Aretin.  Epistol.  lib.  i.  ep.  iv. 
v.  p.  6.  19.  21.  lib.  ii.  p.  30.  et  Colluc.  Salutat.  Fpistol.  lib.ii. 
ep.  l.p.  1.  18.  edit.  Florent. —  We  have  also  an  account  of 
the  pontificate  of  Gregory,  in  the  Epistles  of  the  same  Are- 
tin,  lib.  ii.  iii.  p.  32.  ep.  vii.  p.  39.  41.  51.  lib.  ii.  ep.  xvii.  p. 
54.  56.  59. — Jo.  Lami  Deliciae  Eruditorum,  torn.  x.  p.  494. 

VOL.   III.  D  D 


402  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

GENT,    in  Avignon  by  the  king  of  France,  in  the  year 
pA^Tfi    1^^»  saved  himself  by  flight,  retiring  first  into 

'"  Catalonia,   his  native   country,  and  afterwards  to 

Perpignan.     Hence  eight  or  nine  of  the  cardinals 
who  adhered  to  this  cause,  seeing  themselves  de- 
serted by  their  pope,  went  over  to  the  other  side, 
and,  joining  publicly  with  the  cardinals  of  Gre- 
gory XII.  they  agreed  together  to  assemble  a 
council  at  Pisa  on  the  25th  of  March,  1409,  in 
order  to  heal  the  divisions  and  factions  that  had  so 
long  rent  the  papal  empire.   This  council,  however, 
which  was  designed  to  close  the  wounds  of  the 
church,  had  an  effect  quite  contrary  to  that  which 
was  universally  expected,  and  only  served  to  open 
a  new  breach,  and  to  excite  new  divisions.     Its 
proceedings,  indeed,  were  vigorous,  and  its  mea- 
sures were  accompanied  with  a  just  severity.     A 
heavy  sentence  of  condemnation  was  pronounced 
the  5th  day  of  June,  against  the  contending  pon- 
tiffs, who  were  both  declared  guilty  of  heresy, 
perjury,  and  contumacy,  unworthy  of  the  smallest 
tokens  of  honour  or  respect,  and  separated  ipso 
facto  from  the  communion  of  the  church.     This 
step  was  followed  by  the  election  of  one  pontiff  in 
their  place.     The  election  was  made  on  the  25th 
of  June,  and  fell  upon  Peter  of  Candia,  known  in 
the  papal  list  by  the  name  of  Alexander  V.  (*)  ; 
but  all  the  decrees  and  proceedings  of  this  fa- 
mous council  were  treated  with  contempt  by  the 
condemned  pontiffs,  who  continued  to  enjoy  the 
privileges   and  to  perform  the  functions  of  the 
papacy,  as  if  no  attempts  had  been  made  to  re- 
move them  from  that  dignity.     Benedict   assem- 
bled a  council  at  Perpignan ;  and  Gregory,  an- 

(z)  See  Lenfant's  Histoire  du  Concile  de  Pise,  published 
in  ito,  at  Amsterdam,  in  the  year  1724. — Franc.  Pagi  Bre- 
viar.  Pontif.  Romanor.  torn.  iv.  p.  350. — Bossuet,  Defensio 
Decreti  Gallicani  de  Potestate  Ecclesiastica,  torn.  ii.  p.  17, 
&c. 


CHAP.  ir.     Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  403 

other  at  Austria  near  Aquileia,  in  the  district  of   CENT. 
Friuli.     The  latter,   however,   apprehending  the  PAHT  „ 

resentment  of  the  Venetians  (&),  made  his  escape 

in  a  clandestine  manner  from  the  territory  of 
Aquileia,  arrived  at  Caieta,  where  he  threw  him- 
self upon  the  protection  of  Ladislaus,  king  of 
Naples,  and,  in  the  year  1412,  fled  from  thence  to 
Rimini. 

III.  Thus  was  the  Christian  church  divided Thc  c°"n- 
into  three  great  factions,  and  its  government  H^ce as' 
violently  carried  on  by  three  contending  chiefs,  *embied  by 
who  loaded  each  other  with  reciprocal  maledic- 
tions,  calumnies,  and  excommunications.  Alexan-  ™und- 
der  V.  who  had  been  elected  pontiff  at  the  council 
of  Pisa,  died  at  Bologna,  in  the  year  1410;  and 
the  sixteen  cardinals,  who  attended  him  in  that 
city,  immediately  filled  up  the  vacancy,  by  choos- 
ing, as  his  successor,  Balthasar  Cossa,  a  Neapoli- 
tan, who  was  destitute  of  all  principles,  both  of 
religion  and  probity,  and  who  assumed  the  title 
of  John  XXIII.  The  duration  of  this  schism  in 
the  papacy  was  a  source  of  many  calamities,  and 
became  daily  more  detrimental  both  to  the  civil 
and  religious  interests  of  those  nations  where  the 
flame  raged.  Hence  it  was  that  the  emperor 
Sigismund,  the  king  of  France,  and  several  other 
European  princes,  employed  all  their  zeal  and 
activity,  and  spared  neither  labour  nor  expense, 
in  restoring  the  tranquillity  of  the  church,  and 
uniting  it  again  under  one  spiritual  head.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  pontiffs  could  not  be  per- 
suaded by  any  means  to  prefer  the  peace  of  the 
church  to  the  gratification  of  their  ambition  ;  so 
that  no  other  possible  method  of  accommodating 
this  weighty  matter  remained  than  the  assembling 
of  a  general  council,  in  which  the  controversy 


_  )  He  had  offended  the  Venetians  by  deposing  their 
patriarch  Antony  Panciarini,  and  putting  Anthony  du  Pont, 
the  bishop  of  Concordia,  in  his  place. 

D  D  2 


404  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  might  be  examined,  and  terminated  by  the  judg- 
PABT'H  men^  anc^  decision  °f  tne  universal  church.  This 
_J L  council  was  accordingly  summoned  to  meet  at 


Constance,  in  the  year  1414,  by  John  XXIII. 
who  was  engaged  in  this  measure  by  the  entreaties 
of  Sigismund,  and  also  from  an  expectation  that 
the  decrees  of  this  grand  assembly  would  be  fa- 
vourable to  his  interests.  He  appeared  in  person, 
attended  with  a  great  number  of  cardinals  and 
bishops,  at  this  famous  council,  which  was  also 
honoured  with  the  presence  of  the  emperor  Sigis- 
mund, and  of  a  great  number  of  German  princes, 
and  with  that  of  the  ambassadors  of  all  the  Euro- 
pean states,  whose  monarchs  or  regents  could  not 
be  personally  present  at  the  decision  of  this  im- 
portant controversy  (/). 
The  design  jy  ^he  great  purpose  that  was  aimed  at  in 

and  issue  of  •  />     i  •  i 

this  grand    the  convocation  of  this  grand  assembly  was  the 
council.       healing  of  the  schism  that  had  so  long  rent  the 
papacy :    and    this   purpose  was  happily  accom- 
plished.    It  was  solemnly  declared,  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  sessions  of  this  council,  by  two  decrees, 
that  the  Roman  pontiff  was  inferior  and  subject 
.    /    to  a  general  assembly  of  the  universal  church; 
and  the  authority  of  councils  was  vindicated  and 
maintained,  by  the  same    decrees,    in   the   most 


(/)  The  Acts  of  this  famous  council  were  published  in  six 
volumes  in  folio,  at  Francfort,  in  the  year  1700,  by  Herman 
von  der  Hardt.  This  collection,  however,  is  imperfect,  not- 
withstanding the  pains  that  it  cost  the  laborious  editor. 
Many  of  the  Acts  are  omitted,  and  a  great  number  of  pieces 
stuffed  in  among  the  Acts,  which  by  no  means  deserve  a 
place  there.  The  History  of  this  council  by  Lenfant  is 
composed  with  great  accuracy  and  elegance.  It  appeared 
in  a  second  edition  at  Amsterdam,  in  the  year  1728,  in  two 
volumes,  quarto;  the  first  was  published  in  1714.  The  sup- 
plement that  was  given  to  this  history  by  Bourgeois  de 
Chastenet,  a  French  lawyer,  is  but  an  indifferent  perform- 
ance. It  is  entitled,  Nouvelle  Histoire  du  Concile  de 
Constance,  ou  Ton  fait  voir  combien  la  L7rance  a  contribue  a 
1'Extinction  du  Schisme. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

effectual  manner  (wz).     This  vigorous  proceeding    c?j[yT' 
prepared  the  way  for  the  degradation  of  John  PART'n. 

XXIII.    who,    during   the   twelfth    session,    was 

unanimously  deposed  from  the  pontificate  (n),  on 
account  of  several  flagitious  crimes  that  were  laid 
to  his  charge,  and  more  especially  on  account  of 
the  scandalous  violation  of  a  solemn  engagement 
he  had  taken  about  the  beginning  of  the  council, 
to  resign  the  papal  chair,  if  that  measure  should 
appear  necessary  to  the  peace  of  the  church  ; 
which  engagement  he  broke  some  weeks  after  by 
a  clandestine  flight.  In  the  same  year  (1415), 
Gregory  XII.  sent  to  the  council  Charles  de 
Malatesta  to  make,  in  his  name,  and  as  his  proxy, 
a  solemn  and  voluntary  resignation  of  the  ponti- 
ficate. About  two  years  after  this,  Benedict 
XIII.  was  deposed  by  a  solemn  resolution  of  the 
council  (0),  and  Otto  de  Colonna  raised,  by  the 
unanimous  suffrages  of  the  cardinals,  to  the  high 
dignity  of  head  of  the  church,  which  he  ruled 
under  the  title  of  Martin  V.  Benedict,  who 
resided  still  at  Perpignan,  was  far  from  being 
disposed  to  submit  either  to  the  decree  of  the 
council  which  deposed  him,  or  to  the  determin- 
ation of  the  cardinals,  with  respect  to  his  suc- 
cessor. On  the  contrary,  he  persisted  until  the 
day  of  his  death,  which  happened  in  the  year 
1423,  in  assuming  the  title,  the  prerogatives,  and 
the  authority  of  the  papacy.  And  when  this 
obstinate  man  was  dead,  a  certain  Spaniard, 
named  Giles  Munois,  was  chosen  pope  in  his 

(m)  For  an  account  of  these  two  famous  decrees,  which 
set  such  wise  limits  to  the  supremacy  of  the  pontiffs,,  see  Na- 
talis  Alexand.  Hist.  Eccl.  Saec.  xv.  Diss.  iv. — Bossuet,  De- 
fens.  Sententiae  Cleri  Gallican.  de  Potest.  Ecclesiast.  torn.  ii. 
p.  2.  23.  Lenfant,  Dissert.  Historique  et  Apolo^etique  pour 
Jean  Gerson,  et  le  Concile  de  Constance,  which  is  subjoined 
to  his  History  of  that  Council. 

(n}  On  the  29th  of  May,  1415. 

(o)  On  the  26th  of  July,  14-17. 


403  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  place  by  two  cardinals,  under  the  auspicious  pa- 
PAKT  ii.  tronage  of  Alphonsus,  king  of  Sicily,  and  adopted 

the  title  of  Clement  VIII. ;  but  this  sorry  pontiff, 

in  the  year  1429,  was  persuaded  to  resign  his  pre- 
tensions to  the  papacy,  and  to  leave  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church  to  Martin  V. 

John  HUSS.  V.  If,  from  the  measures  that  were  taken  in 
this  council  to  check  the  lordly  arrogance  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs,  we  turn  our  eyes  to  the  proceed- 
ings that  were  carried  on  against  those  that  were 
called  heretics,  we  shall  observe  in  this  new  scene 
nothing  worthy  of  applause,  but  several  things,  on 
the  contrary,  that  are  proper  to  excite  our  indig- 
nation, and  which  no  pretext,  no  consideration, 
can  render  excusable.  Before  the  meeting  of  this 
council,  there  were  great  commotions  raised  in 
several  parts  of  Europe,  and  more  especially  in 
Bohemia,  concerning  religious  matters.  One  of 
the  persons  that  gave  occasion  to  these  disputes 
was  John  Huss,  who  lived  at  Prague  in  the 
highest  reputation,  both  on  account  of  the  sanc- 
tity of  his  manners,  and  the  purity  of  his  doctrine, 
who  was  distinguished  by  his  uncommon  erudition 
and  eloquence,  and  performed,  at  the  same  time, 
the  functions  of  professor  of  divinity  in  the  uni- 
versity, and  of  ordinary  pastor  in  the  church  of 
that  famous  city  (p).  This  eminent  ecclesiastic 
declaimed  with  vehemence  against  the  vices  that 
had  corrupted  all  the  different  ranks  and  orders 
of  the  clergy ;  nor  was  he  singular  in  this  respect ; 

Ifgg0  (p)  A  Bohemian  Jesuit,  who  was  far  from  being  fa- 
vourable to  John  Huss,  and  who  had  the  best  opportu- 
nity of  being  acquainted  with  his  real  character,  describes 
him  thus  :  "  He  was  more  subtile  than  eloquent,  but  the 
gravity  and  austerity  of  his  manners,  his  frugal  and  exem- 
plary life,  his  pale  and  meagre  countenance,  his  sweetness 
of  temper,  and  his  uncommon  affability  towards  persons  of 
all  ranks  and  conditions,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
were  much  more  persuasive  than  any  eloquence  could  be." 
See  Bohus.  Balbinus,  Epitom.  Rer.  Bohem.  lib.  iv,  cap.  v.  p. 
431. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  407 

such   remonstrances  were  become  very  common,    CENT. 
and  they  were  generally  approved  of  by  the  wise  PART'H. 

and  good.      Huss,  however,  went  still  farther ; 

and,  from  the  year  1408,  used  his  most  earnest 
and  assiduous  endeavours  to  withdraw  the  univer- 
sity of  Prague  from  the  jurisdiction  of  Gregory 
XII.  whom  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia  had  hitherfo 
acknowledged  as  the  true  and  lawful  head  of  the 

c5 

church.  The  archbishop  of  Prague,  and  the 
clergy  in  general,  who  were  warmly  attached  to 
the  interests  of  Gregory,  were  greatly  exasperated 
at  these  proceedings.  Hence  arose  a  violent 
quarrel  between  the  incensed  prelate  and  the 
zealous  reformer,  which  the  latter  inflamed  and 
augmented,  from  day  to  day,  by  his  pathetic  ex- 
clamations against  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the 
corruptions  that  prevailed  among  the  sacerdotal 
order. 

VI.  Such  were  the  circumstances  that  first  ex-  The  reasons 
cited  the  resentment  of  the  clergy  against  John  %£££££ 
Huss.      This  resentment,  however,   might  have  ment  of  the 
been  easily  calmed,    and   perhaps    totally    extin-  ^earfn^t 
guished,  if  new  incidents  of  a  more   important  John  HUBS. 
kind  had  not  arisen  to  keep  up  the  flame,  and 
increase  its  fury.     In  the  first  place,  he  adopted 
the   philosophical   opinions   of  the   Realists,  and 
showed  his   warm  attachment  to  their  cause,  in 
the  manner  that  was  usual  in  this  barbarous  age, 
even  by  persecuting  to  the  utmost  of  his  power, 
their  adversaries,  the  Nominalists,  whose  number 
was  great,  and  whose  influence  was  considerable 
in  the  university  of  Prague  (<?).     He  also  multi- 


(q)  See  the  Literae  Nominalium  ad  Regem  Franciae  Lu- 
dovicum  VT.  in  Baluzii  'Miscellan.  torn.  iv.  p.  534-.  where  we 
read  the  following  passage  :  <e  Legirnus  Nominates  expulsos 
de  Bohemia  eo  tempore,  quo  haeretici  voluerunt  Bohemicum 
regnum  suis  haeresibus  inficere. — Quum  dicti  heretici  non 
possent  disputando  superare,  impetraverurit  ab  Abbisseslao 
(Wenceslao)  Principe  Bohemiae,  ut  gubernarentur  studia 


408  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    plied  the  number  of  his  enemies  in  the  year  1408, 
PA*  T  ii.  ^7  procuring,  through  his  great  credit,  a  sentence 

—  in  favour  of  the  Bohemians,  who  disputed  with 

the  Germans  concerning  the  number  of  suffrages, 
that  their  respective  nations  were  entitled  to  in 
all  matters  that  were  carried  by  election  in  the 
university  of  Prague.  That  the  nature  of  this 
contest  may  be  better  understood,  it  will  be 
proper  to  observe,  that  this  famous  university  was 
divided,  by  its  founder  Charles  IV.  into  four 
nations,  to  wit,  the  Bohemians,  Bavarians,  Poles, 
and  Saxons,  of  which,  according  to  the  original 
laws  of  the  university,  the  first  had  three  suf- 
frages ;  and  the  other  three,  who  were  compre- 
hended under  the  title  of  the  German  nation,  only 
one.  This  arrangement,  however,  had  not  only 
been  altered  by  custom,  but  was  entirely  inverted 
in  favour  of  the  Germans,  who  were  vastly  supe- 
rior to  the  Bohemians  in  number,  and  assumed  to 
themselves  the  three  suffrages,  which,  according 
to  the  original  institution  of  the  university,  be- 
longed, undoubtedly,  to  the  latter.  Huss,  there- 
fore, whether  animated  by  a  principle  of  patriot- 
ism, or  by  an  aversion  to  the  Nominalists,  who 
were  peculiarly  favoured  by  the  Germans,  raised 
his  voice  against  this  abuse,  and  employed,  with 
success,  the  extraordinary  credit  he  had  obtained 
at  court,  by  his  flowing  and  masculine  eloquence, 
in  depriving  the  Germans  of  the  privilege  they 
had  usurped,  and  in  reducing  their  three  suffrages 
to  one.  The  issue  of  this  long  and  tedious  con- 
test (r)  was  so  offensive  to  the  Germans,  that  a 


Pragensia  rituParisiensium.  Quo  edicto  coacti  sunt  supra- 
dicti  Nominates  Pragam  civitatem  relinquere,  et  se  transtu- 
lerunt  ad  Lipzicam  civitatem,  et  ibidem  erexerunt  universi- 
tatem  solemnissimam." 

Ifil0  (r)  Wenceslaus,  king  of  Bohemia,  who  was  bribed 
by  both  of  the  contending  parties,  protracted  instead  of 
abridging  this  dispute,  and  used  to  say  with  a  smile,  that  he 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  409 

prodigious  number  of  them,  with  John  Hoffman,    CENT. 
the  rector  of  the  university,  at  their  head  (<s),  re-      *V"ir 

tired  from  Prague,  and  repaired  to  Leipsic,  where 1 

Frederic,  surnamed  the  Wise,  elector  of  Saxony, 
erected  for  them,  in  the  year  1409,  the  famous 
academy  which  still  subsists  in  a  flourishing  state. 
This  event  contributed  greatly  to  render  Huss 
odious  to  many,    and,   by  the   consequences   that 
followed  it,  was  certainly  instrumental  in  bringing 
on  his  ruin.      For  no  sooner  had   the   Germans 
retired  from  Prague,  than  he  began,  not  only  to 
inveigh  with  greater  freedom  than  he  had  for- 
merly done  against  the  vices  and  corruptions  of 
the  clergy,  but  even  went  so  far  as  to  recommend, 
in  an  open  and  public  manner,  the  writings  and 
opinions  of  the  famous  Wickliff,  whose  new  doc- 
trines had  already  made  such  a  noise  in  England. 
Hence  an  accusation  was  brought  against  him,  in 
the  year  1410,  before  the  tribunal  of  John  XXIII. 
by  whom  he  was  solemnly  expelled  from  the  com- 
munion of  the  church.     He  treated,  indeed,  this 
excommunication  with  the  utmost  contempt,  and, 
both  in   his  conversation  and  his  writings,   laid 
open  the  disorders  that  preyed  upon  the  vitals  of 
the  church,  and  the  vices   that   dishonoured  the 
conduct  of  its   ministers  (f)  ;    and  the  fortitude 
and  zeal  he  discovered  in  this  matter  were  almost 
universally  applauded. 

VII.  This  eminent  man,  whose  piety  was  truly  J°hn  Huss 
fervent  and  sincere,  though  his  zeal,  perhaps,  was 
rather  too  violent,  and  his  prudence  not  always 

had  found  a  good  goose,  which  laid  every  day  a  considerable 
number  of  gold  and  silver  e^gs.  This  was  playing  upon  the 
word  Huss,  which,  in  the  German  language,  signifies  a  goose. 

Hgp13  (s)  Historians  differ  much  in  their  accounts  of  the 
number  of  Germans  that,  retired  from  the  university  of 
Prague  upon  this  occasion.  ./Eneas  Sylvius  reckons  5000, 
Trithemius  and  others  2000,  Dubravius  24,000,  Lupatius 
44,000,  Lauda,  a  contempory  writer,  36,000. 

(t)  See  Laur.  Byzinii  Diarium  Belli  Hussitici,  in  Ludwig's 
Reliquiae  Manuscriptorum,  torn.  vi.  p.  127. 


410  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    equally   circumspect,    was    summoned   to   appear 
PART'II   Before  tne  council  of  Constance.    Obedient  to  this 

1  order,    and   thinking   himself   secured   from    the 

rage  of  his  enemies  by  the  safe  conduct  which 
had  been  granted  him  by  the  emperor  Sigismund, 
both  for  his  journey  to  Constance,  his  residence 
in  that  place,  and  his  return  to  his  own  country, 
John  Huss  appeared  before  the  council,  to  de- 
monstrate his  innocence,  and  to  prove  that  the 
charge  of  his  having  deserted  the  church  of  Rome 
was  entirely  groundless.  And  it  may  be  affirmed 
i  with  truth  that  his  religious  opinions,  at  least  in 
matters  of  moment  and  importance,  were  con- 
formable to  the  established  doctrine  of  the  church 
in  this  age  (z/).  He  declaimed,  indeed,  with  ex- 
traordinary vehemence  against  the  Roman  pon- 
tiffs, the  bishops,  and  monks :  but  this  freedom 
was  looked  upon  as  lawful  in  these  times,  and  it 
was  used  every  day  in  the  council  of  Constance, 
where  the  tyranny  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the 
corruption  of  the  sacerdotal  and  monastic  orders, 
were  censured  with  the  utmost  severity.  The 
enemies,  however,  of  this  good  man,  who  were 
very  numerous  both  in  the  kingdom  of  Bohemia, 
and  also  in  the  council  of  Constance,  coloured  the 
accusation  that  was  brought  against  him  with 
such  artifice  and  success,  that  by  the  most  scan- 
dalous breach  of  public  faith,  he  was  cast  into 
prison,  declared  a  heretic,  because  he  refused  to 
obey  the  order  of  the  council,  which  commanded 
him  to  plead  guilty  against  the  dictates  of  his 


(u)  It  was  observed  in  the  preceding  section,  that 

John  Huss  adopted  with  zeal,  and  recommended  in  an  open 
and  public  manner,  the  writings  and  opinions  of  Wicklifte ; 
but  this  must  be  understood  of  the  writings  and  opinions  of 
that  great  man  in  relation  to  the  papal  hierarchy,  the  despo- 
tism of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the  corruption  of  the  clergy; 
for,  in  other  respects,  it  is  certain  that  he  adhered  to  the 
most  superstitious  doctrines  of  the  church,  as  appears  by  two 
sermons  he  had  prepared  for  the  council  of  Constance. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  .    411 

conscience,  and  was  burnt  alive  the  6th  of  July,    CENT. 
1415  ;    which   dreadful  punishment  he  endured  PA^'ir 

with   unparalleled  magnanimity  and  resignation, 1. 

expressing  in  his  last  moments  the  noblest  feelings 
of  love  to  God,  and  the  most  triumphant  hope 
of  the  accomplishment  of  those  transporting 
promises  with  which  the  gospel  arms  the  true 
Christian  at  the  approach  of  eternity.  The  same 
unhappy  fate  was  borne  with  the  same  pious  forti- 
tude and  constancy  of  mind  by  Jerome  of  Prague, 
the  intimate  companion  of  John  Huss,  who  came 
to  this  council  with  the  generous  design  of  sup- 
porting and  seconding  his  persecuted  friend. 
Terrified  by  the  prospect  of  a  cruel  death,  Jerome 
at  first  appeared  willing  to  submit  to  the  orders 
of  the  council,  and  to  abandon  the  tenets  and 
opinions  which  it  had  condemned  in  his  writings. 
This  submission,  however,  was  not  attended  with 
the  advantages  he  expected  from  it,  nor  did  it 
deliver  him  from  the  close  and  severe  confinement 
in  which  he  was  kept.  He  therefore  resumed  his 
fortitude,  professed  anew,  with  an  heroic  constancy, 
the  opinions  which  he  had  deserted  for  a  while 
from  a  principle  of  fear,  and  maintained  them  in 
the  flames,  in  which  he  expired  on  the  30th  of 
May,  1416  (w). 

Many  learned  men  have  endeavoured  to  investi-  The  true 
gate  the  reasons  that  occasioned  the  pronouncing  c»uses  .of 

,  •  TT  J     I, '  theSe  V1°- 

such  a  cruel  sentence  against  Huss  and  his  asso-  ient  Pro- 
ciate ;    and  as   no   adequate   reasons   for  such   a  codings 
severe  proceeding  can  be  found,  either  in  the  life  STiiuss 
or  opinions  of  that  good   man,    they   conclude,  *J  prjaer°™e 
that  he  fell  a  victim  to  the  rage  and  injustice  of 
his  unrelenting  enemies.     And  indeed  this  con- 


w)  The  translator  has  here  inserted  into  the  text 
the  large  note  (a)  of  the  original,  which  relates  to  the  cir- 
cumstances that  precipitated  the  ruin  of  these  two  eminent 
reformers ;  and  he  has  thrown  the  citations  therein  contained 
into  several  notes. 


412  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  elusion  is  both  natural  and  well-grounded  ;  nor 
xv-  will  it  be  difficult  to  show  how  it  came  to  pass, 

AITTN^  ^at  ^e  reveren(j  fathers  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance were  so  eagerly  bent  upon  burning,  as  a 
heretic,  a  man  who  neither  deserved  such  an  inju- 
rious title,  nor  such  a  dreadful  fate.  In  the  first 
place,  John  Huss  had  excited,  both  by  his  dis- 
course and  by  his  writings,  great  commotions  in 
Bohemia,  and  had  rendered  the  clergy  of  all  ranks 
and  orders  extremely  odious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people.  The  bishops,  therefore,  together  with 
the  sacerdotal  and  monastic  orders,  were  very 
sensible  that  their  honours  and  advantages,  their 
credit  and  authority,  were  in  the  greatest  danger 
of  being  reduced  to  nothing,  if  this  reformer 
should  return  again  to  his  country,  and  continue 
to  write  and  declaim  against  the  clergy  with  the 
same  freedom  that  he  had  formerly  done.  Hence 
they  left  no  means  unemployed  to  accomplish 
his  ruin ;  they  laboured  night  and  day,  they  form- 
ed plots,  they  bribed  men  in  power,  they  used,  in 
short,  every  method  that  could  have  any  ten- 
dency to  rid  them  of  such  a  formidable  adver- 
sary (,r).  It  may  be  observed,  secondly,  that  in 
the  council  of  Constance,  there  were  many  men 
of  great  influence  and  weight,  who  looked  upon 
themselves  as  personally  offended  by  John  Huss, 

(x)  The  bribery  and  corruption  that  was  employed  in 
bringing  about  the  ruin  of  John  Huss  are  manifest  from  the 
following  remarkable  passages  of  the  Diarium  Hussiticum  of 
Laur.  Byzinius,  p.  135.  (see  Ludewigi  Ileliquia?,  torn,  vi.) 
"  Clerus  perversus  praecipue  in  regno  Bohemias  et  Marchi- 
onatu  Moravian,  condemnationem  ipsius  (Hussi)  contributione 
pecuniarum,  et  modis  aliis  diversis  procuravit  et  ad  ipsius 
consensit  interitum."  And  again,  p.  150.  "  Clerus  perver- 
sus regni  Bohemia?  et  Marchionatus  Moraviae,  et  prsecipue 
Episcopi,  Abbates,  Canonici,  plebani,  et  religiosi,  ipsius  fideles 
ac  salutiferas  admonitiones,  adhortationes,  ipsorum  pompam, 
symoniam,  avaritiam,  fornicationem,  vitaeque  detestandas 
abominationem  detegentes,  ferre  non  valendo,  pecuniarum 
contributione  ad  ipsius  extmctionera  faciendo  procurarunt." 


CHAP.  IT.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  £c.  413 

and  who  demanded  his  life  as  the  only  sacrifice    CENT. 
that  could  satisfy  their  vengeance.     Huss,  as  has 

11*1  1  11 

been  already  mentioned,  was  not  only  attached 
to  the  party  of  the  Realists,  but  was  peculiarly 
severe  in  his  opposition  to  their  adversaries.  And 
now  he  was  so  unhappy,  as  to  be  brought  before 
a  tribunal  which  was  principally  composed  of 
the  Nominalists,  with  the  famous  John  Gerson  at 
their  head,  who  was  the  zealous  patron  of  that 
faction,  and  the  mortal  enemy  of  Huss.  Nothing 
could  equal  the  vindictive  pleasure  the  Nomina- 
lists felt  from  an  event  that  put  this  unfortunate 
prisoner  in  their  power,  and  gave  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  satisfying  their  vengeance  to  the  full ; 
and  accordingly,  in  their  Letter  to  Lewis,  king  of 
France  (#),  they  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that  Huss 
fell  a  victim  to  the  resentment  of  their  sect,  which 
is  also  confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  council  of 
Constance.  The  animosities  that  always  reigned 
among  the  Realists  and  Nominalists  were  at  this 
time  carried  to  the  greatest  excess  imaginable. 
Upon  every  occasion  that  offered,  they  accused 
each  other  of  heresy  and  impiety,  and  had  con- 
stantly recourse  to  corporal  punishments  to  de- 
cide the  matter.  The  Nominalists  procured  the 
death  of  Huss,  who  was  a  Realist ;  and  the  Real- 
ists, on  the  other  hand,  obtained,  in  the  year 
1479,  the  condemnation  of  John  de  Wesalia, 
who  was  attached  to  the  party  of  the  Nominal- 
ists (2).  These  contending  sects  carried  their 
blind  fury  so  far  as  to  charge  each  other  with 

(y)  See  Baluzii  Miscell.  torn.  iv.  p.  534.  in  which  we  find 
the  following  passage  :  "  Suscitavit  Deus  Doctores  Catholi- 
cos,  Petrum  de  Allyaco,  Johannem  de  Gersono,  et  alios 
quamplures  doctissimos  homines  Nominales,  qui  convocati 
ad  Concilium  Constantiense,  ad  quod  citati  fuerunt  heeretici, 
et  nominatim  Hieronymus  et  Johannes — dictos  hsereticos 
per  quadraginta  dies  disputando  superaverant." 

(*)  See  the  Examen  Magistrate  et  Theologicale  Mag.  Job. 
de  Wesalia,  in  Ortuini  Gratii  Fascicule  Rerum  expetend.  et 
fugiendar.  Colon.  15S5,  fol.  163. 


414  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost  (#),  and  exhibited 
PAR'T'II    *^e  most  miserable  spectacle  of  inhuman  bigotry 

1  to    the    Christian   world.     The    aversion   which 

John  Huss,  and  Jerome  his  companion,  had 
against  the  Germans,  was  a  third  circumstance 
that  contributed  to  determine  their  unhappy  fate. 
This  aversion  they  declared  publicly  at  Prague, 
upon  all  occasions,  both  by  their  words  and  ac- 
tions ;  nor  were  they  at  any  pains  to  conceal  it 
even  in  the  council  of  Constance,  where  they  ac- 
cused them  of  presumption  and  despotism  in  the 
strongest  terms  (&).  The  Germans,  on  the  other 
hand,  remembering  the  affront  they  had  received 
in  the  university  of  Prague,  by  the  means  of  John 
Huss,  burned  with  resentment  and  rage  both 
against  him  and  his  unfortunate  friend  ;  and  as 
their  influence  and  authority  were  very  great  in 
the  council,  there  is  no  doubt  that  they  employed 
them,  with  the  utmost  zeal,  against  these  two 
formidable  adversaries.  Besides,  John  Hoffman, 

(a)  In  the  Examen  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  we 
find  the  following  striking  passage,  which  may  show  us  the 
extravagant  length  to  which  the  disputes  between  the  Nomi- 
nalists and  Realists  were  now  carried :  "  Quis  nisi  ipse  Dia- 
bolus  seminavit  illam  zizaniam  inter  Philosophos    et  inter 
Theologos,,  ut  tanta  sit  dissensio,  etiam  animorum  inter  di- 
versa  opinantes?  Adeo  ut  si  universalia  quisquam  realia  ne- 
gaverit,  existimetur  in  Spiritum  Sanctum  peccavisse,  immo 
summo  et  maximo  peccato  plenus  creditor  contra  Deum, 
contra   Christianam    religionem,    contra    justitiam,    contra 
omnem   politiam   graviter    deliquisse.     Unde   haec    caecitas 
mentis  nisi  a  Diabolo,  qui  phantasias  nostras  illudit?"  We 
see  by  this  passage,  that  the  Realists  charged  their  adversa- 
ries (whose  only  crime  was  the  absurdity  of  calling  universal 
ideas  mere  denominations)  with  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
with  transgression  against  God,  and  against  the  Christian 
religion,  and  with  a  violation  of  all  the  laws  of  justice  and 
civil  polity. 

(b]  See  Theod.  de  Niem,  Invectiva  in  Joh.  XXIII.  in 
Hardtii  Actis  Concilii  Constant,  torn.  ii.  p.  450.  "  Impropera- 
bat  etiam  in  publico  Alemannis,  dicendo,  quod  essent  prae- 
sumptuosi  et  vellent  ubique  per  orbem  dominari — Sicque 
factum  fuisset  saepe  in  Bohemia,  ubi  volentes  etiam  dominari 
Alemanni  violenter  exinde  repulsi  et  male  tractati  fuissent." 


PART  II. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  415 

the  famous  rector  of  the    university  of  Prague,    CENT. 
whom  Huss  had  been  the  occasion  of  expelling      xv- 
from  that  city,  together  with  the  Germans,  and 
who  was  in  consequence  thereof  become  his  most 
virulent  enemy,  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Misnia, 
in  the  year  1413,  and  held  in  this  council   the 
most  illustrious  rank  among  the  delegates  of  the 
German    church.     This    circumstance    was    also 
most  unfavourable  to  Huss,  and  was,  no  doubt,  in 
the  event  detrimental  to  his  cause. 

The  circumstances  now  mentioned,  as  contri- 
buting to  the  unhappy  fate  of  this  good  man,  are, 
as  we  see,  all  drawn  from  the  resentment  and  pre- 
judices of  his  enemies,  and  have  not  the  least 
colour  of  equity.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed, 
that  there  appeared  one  mark  of  heresy  in  the 
conduct  of  this  reformer,  which,  according  to 
the  notions  that  prevailed  in  this  century,  might 
expose  him  to  condemnation  with  some  shadow 
of  reason  and  justice  ;  I  mean,  his  inflexible  ob- 
stinacy, which  the  church  of  Rome  always  consi- 
dered as  a  grievous  heresy,  even  in  those  whose 
errors  were  of  little  moment.  We  must  consider 
this  man,  as  called  before  a  council,  which  was 
supposed  to  represent  the  universal  church,  to 
confess  his  faults  and  to  abjure  his  errors.  This 
he  obstinately  refused  to  do,  unless  he  was  pre- 
viously convicted  of  error  ;  here,  therefore,  he 
resisted  the  authority  of  the  catholic  church,  de- 
manded a  rational  proof  of  the  justice  of  the  sen- 
tence it  had  pronounced  against  him,  and  in- 
timated, with  sufficient  plainness,  that  he  looked 
upon  the  church  as  fallible.  All  this  certainly 
was  most  enormously  criminal  and  intolerably 
heretical,  according  to  the  general  opinion  of  the 
times.  For  it  became  a  dutiful  son  of  the  church 
to  renounce  his  eye-sight,  and  to  submit  both 
his  judgment  and  his  will,  without  any  excep- 
tion or  reservation,  to  the  judgment  and  will 


416  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    of  that  holy  mother,    under   a  firm  belief  and 
PA*T*II   entire  persuasion  of  the  infallibility  of  all  her  deci- 

1  sions.     This  ghostly  mother  had,  for  many  ages 

past,  followed,  whenever  her  unerring  perfection 
and  authority  were  called  in  question,  the  rule 
which  Pliny  observed  in  his  conduct  towards  the 
Christians :  "  When  they  persevered,  (says  he, 
"  in  his  letter  to  Trajan  (c),)  I  put  my  threats  into 
"  execution,  from  a  persuasion,  that,  whatever 
"  their  confession  might  be,  their  audacious  and 
"  invincible  obstinacy  deserved  an  exemplary  pu- 
"  nishment." 

Thecoun-  VIII.  Before  sentence  had  been  pronounced 
V  decree0"'  a»a^nst  J°nn  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  the 
against  the  famous  Wickliff,  whose  opinions  they  were  sup- 
™tin?s  .posed  to  adopt,  and  who  was  long  since  dead, 

and  ashes  of  *  n    j    r>  i-  L    i     r  i  •          i          i 

was  called  from  his  rest  before  this  ghostly  tri- 
bunal, and  his  memory  was  solemnly  branded 
with  infamy  by  a  decree  of  the  council.  On  the 
4th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  1415,  a  long  list  of 
propositions,  invidiously  culled  out  of  his  writ- 
ings, was  examined  and  condemned,  and  an  order 
was  issued  out  to  commit  all  his  works,  together, 
with  his  bones,  to  the  flames.  On  the  1 4th  of  June 
following,  the  assembled  fathers  passed  the  famous 
decree,  which  took  the  cup  from  the  laity  in  the 
celebration  of  the  eucharist ;  ordered  "  that  the 
"  Lord's  Supper  should  be  received  by  them  only 
"  in  one  kind,  i.  e.  the  bread, "  and  rigorously  pro- 
hibited the  communion  in  both  kinds.  This  decree 
was  occasioned  by  complaints,  that  had  been  made 
of  the  conduct  of  Jacobellus  de  Misa,  curate  of 
the  parish  of  St.  Michael  at  Prague,  who,  about 
a  year  before  this,  had  been  persuaded  by  Peter 
of  Dresden  to  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  in 
both  kinds,  and  was  followed  in  this  by  several 

(c)  Plin.  Epist.  lib.  x.  ep.  97.  "  Perseverantes  duel  jussj. 
Neque  enim  dubitabam,  qualecumque  csset  quod  fateren- 
tur,  perviCaciam  certe  et  inflexibilem  obstinationem  debere 
puniri." 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  41 


churches  (d).      The  council,  being   informed  of   CENT. 
this  matter  by  a  certain  Bohemian  bishop,  thought 

*  .-..  i  PI*       PART  II. 

proper  to  oppose  with  vigour  the  progress  01  this  _ 
heresy  ;  and  therefore  they  enacted  the  statute, 
which  ordered  "  the  communion  to  be  admini- 
"  stered  to  the  laity  but  in  one  kind,"  and  which 
obtained  the  force  and  authority  of  a  law  in  the 
church  of  Rome. 

IX.  In  the  same  year,  the  opinion  of  John  The  sen- 
Petit,  a  doctor  of  divinity  at  Paris  (tf),  who  main-  ^"cnecifathe 
tained  that  every  individual  had  an  undoubted  gainst 
right  to  take  away  the  life  of  a  tyrant,  was  Petit- 
brought  before  the  council,  and  was  condemned 
as  an  odious  and  detestable  heresy  ;  but  both  the 
name  and  person  of  the  author  were  spared,  on 
account  of  the  powerful  patrons,  under  whose  pro- 
tection he  had  defended  that  pernicious  doctrine. 
John,  duke  of  Burgundy,  had,  in  the  year  1407, 
employed  a  band  of  ruffians  to  assassinate  Lewis, 
duke  of  Orleans,  only  brother  of  Charles  VI. 
king  of  France.  While  the  whole  city  of  Paris 
was  in  an  uproar,  in  consequence  of  this  horrible 
deed,  Petit  justified  it  in  a  public  oration,  in  pre- 
sence of  the  Dauphin  and  the  princes  of  the  blood, 
affirming,  that  the  duke  had  done  a  laudable 
action,  and  that  it  was  lawful  to  put  a  tyrant  to 
death,  "  in  any  way,  either  by  violence  or  fraud, 
"  and  without  any  form  of  law  or  justice  ;  nay, 
"  even  in  opposition  to  the  most  solemn  contracts 
"  and  oaths  of  fidelity  and  allegiance."  It  is, 
however,  to  be  observed,  that  by  tyrants,  this 
doctor  did  not  mean  the  supreme  rulers  of  nations, 
but  those  more  powerful  and  insolent  subjects, 
who  abused  their  wealth  and  credit  to  bring  about 
measures  that  tended  to  the  dishonour  of  their 


(d)  Byzinii  Diarium  Hussiticum,  p.  124. 
Efgf0  (e)  Some  historians  have  erroneously  represented 
Petit  as  a  lawyer.     See  Dr.  Smollet's  History  of  England, 
vol.  ii.  p.  -162.  in  4to. 

VOL.  III.  E  E 


418  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

°xvT  sovereign  and  the  ruin  of  their  country  (y1).  The 
PART  ii.  university  of  Paris  pronounced  a  severe  and  rigo- 
-  rous  sentence  against  the  author  of  this  pernicious 
opinion  ;  and  the  council  of  Constance,  after 
much  deliberation  and  debate,  condemned  the 
opinion  without  mentioning  the  author.  This  de- 
termination of  the  council,  though  modified  with 
the  utmost  clemency  and  mildness,  was  not  ratified 
by  the  new  pontiff  Martin  V.  who  dreaded  too 
much  the  formidable  power  of  the  duke  of  Bur- 
gundy, to  confirm  a  sentence  which  he  knew 
would  be  displeasing  to  that  ambitious  prince 


The  hopes  X.  After  these  and  other  transactions  of  a  like 
nLtioxfin"  nature>  it  was  now  time  to  take  into  consideration 
the  church  a  point  of  more  importance  than  had  yet  been 
frustrated.  pr0p0se(jj  even  ^he  reformation  of  the  church  in 
its  head  and  in  its  members,  by  setting  bounds  to 
the  despotism  and  corruption  of  the  Roman  pon- 
tiffs, and  to  the  luxury  and  immorality  of  a  licen- 
tious clergy.  It  was  particularly  with  a  view  to 
this  important  object,  that  the  eyes  of  all  Europe 
were  fixed  upon  the  council  of  Constance,  from 
an  universal  persuasion  of  the  necessity  of  this  re- 
formation, and  an  ardent  desire  of  seeing  it  hap- 
pily brought  into  execution.  Nor  did  the  assem- 
bled fathers  deny,  that  this  reformation  was  the 
principal  end  of  their  meeting.  Yet  this  salutary 
work  had  so  many  obstacles  in  the  passions  and 
interests  of  those  very  persons  by  whom  it  was  to 


This  appears  manifestly  from  the  very  discourse  of 
Petit,  which  the  reader  may  see  in  Lenfant's  History  of  the 
Council  of  Pisa,  torn.  ii.  p.  303  *.  See  also  August.  Leyseri 
Diss.  qua  memoriam  Joh.  Burgundi  et  doctrinam  Joh.  Parvi 
de  caede  perduillium  vindicat.  Witteberg.  1735,  in  4to. 

(g)  Boulay,  Histor.  Acad.  Paris,  torn.  v.  p.  113.  et  passim. 
—  Argentre,  Collectio  Judicior.  de  Novis  Erroribus,  torn.  i. 
part.  II.  p.  184.  —  Gersonis  Opera  a  Du  Pinio  edita,  torn.  v. 
JBayle,  Diction,  torn.  iii.  p.  2268. 

C3-  *  See  also  the  same  author's  Histery  of  the  Council  of  Constance, 
book  iii.  sect.  xix. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

be  effected,  that  little  could  be  expected,  and  still  CENT. 
less  was  done.  The  cardinals  and  dignified  clergy,  PAj^i, 
whose  interest  it  was  that  the  church  should  _ 
remain  in  its  corrupt  and  disordered  state,  em- 
ployed all  their  eloquence  and  art  to  prevent  its 
reformation  ;  and  observed,  among  other  artful 
pretexts,  that  a  work  of  such  high  moment  and 
importance  could  not  be  undertaken  with  any  pro- 
spect of  success,  until  a  new  pontiff  was  elected. 
And,  what  was  still  more  shocking,  the  new  pon- 
tiff Martin  V.  was  no  sooner  raised  to  that  high 
dignity,  than  he  employed  his  authority  to  elude 
and  frustrate  every  effort  that  was  made  to  set 
this  salutary  work  on  foot  ;  and  made  it  appear 
most  evidently,  by  the  laws  he  enacted,  that 
nothing  was  more  foreign  from  his  intention  than 
the  reformation  of  the  clergy,  and  the  restoration 
of  the  church  to  its  primitive  purity.  Thus  this 
famous  council,  after  sitting  three  years  and  six 
months,  was  dissolved  on  the  22d  day  of  April, 
1418,  without  having  effected  what  was  the  chief 
design  of  their  assembling,  and  put  off  to  a  future 
assembly  of  the  same  kind,  which  was  to  be  sum- 
moned five  years  after  this  period,  that  pious 
design  of  purifying  a  corrupt  church,  which  had 
been  so  long  the  object  of  the  expectations  and 
desires  of  all  good  Christians. 

XL    Five  years  and  more  elapsed  without  a  A  council 
council  being  called.     The  remonstrances,  how-  ^sse.™bled  at 

&  ,  Basil,  where 

ever,  of  those  whose  zeal  for  the  reformation  of  the  refbrma- 


the  church  interested  them  in  this  event,  pre- 
vailed,  at  length,  over  the  pretexts  and  stratagems  again  at- 
that  were  employed  to  put  it  off  from  time  to 
time  ;  and  Martin  V.  summoned  a  council  to 
meet  at  Pavia,  from  whence  it  was  removed  to 
Sienna,  and  from  thence  to  Basil.  The  pontiff 
did  not  live  to  be  a  witness  of  the  proceedings  of 
this  assembly,  being  carried  off  by  a  sudden  death 
on  the  21st  day  of  February,  in  the  year  1431, 

E  E  2 


PART  II. 


420  The  Intwnal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  just  about  the  time  when  the  council  was  to  meet. 
XV-  He  was  immediately  succeeded  by  Gabriel  Con- 
dolmerus,  a  native  of  Venice,  and  Bishop  of 
Sienna,  who  is  known  in  the  papal  list  by  the  title 
of  Eugenius  IV.  This  pontiff  approved  of  all 
the  measures  that  had  been  entered  into  by  his 
predecessor,  in  relation  to  the  assembling  of  the 
council  of  Basil,  which  was  accordingly  opened 
the  23d  of  July,  1431,  under  the  superintendence 
of  Cardinal  Julian  Cassarini,  who  performed  the 
functions  of  president,  in  the  place  of  Eugenius. 

The  two  grand  points  that  were  proposejl  to 
the  deliberation  of  this  famous  council  were,  the 
union  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches,  and  the 
reformation  of  the  church  universal,  both  in  its 
head  and  in  its  members,  according  to  the  resolution 
that  had  been  taken  in  the  council  of  Constance. 
For  that  the  Roman  pontiffs,  who  were  considered 
as  the  head  of  the  church,  and  the  bishops,  priests, 
and  monks,  who  were  looked  upon  as  its  members, 
were  become  excessively  corrupt ;  and  that,  to 
use  the  expression  of  the  prophet  in  a  similar  case, 
the  whole  head  was  sick,  and  the  whole  heart 
faint,  was  a  matter  of  fact  too  striking  to  escape 
the  knowledge  of  the  obscurest  individual.  On 
the  other  hand,  as  it  appeared  by  the  very  form 
of  the  council  (/*),  by  its  method  of  proceeding, 
and  by  the  first  decrees  that  were  enacted  by  its 
authority,  that  the  assembled  fathers  were  in 
earnest,  and  firmly  resolved  to  answer  the  end  and 


(h)  By  the  form  of  the  council.  Dr.  Mosheim  un- 
doubtedly means  the  division  of  the  cardinals,  archbishops, 
bishops,  abbots,  &c.  [into  four  equal  classes,  without  any  regard 
to  the  nation  or  province  by  which  they  were  sent.  This  pru- 
dent arrangement  prevented  the  cabals  and  intrigues  of  the 
Italians,  whose  bishops  were  much  more  numerous  than 
those  of  other  nations,  and  who,  by  their  number,  might 
have  had  it  in  their  power  to  retard  or  defeat  the  laud- 
able purpose  the  council  had  in  view,  had  things  been  other- 
wise ordered. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

purpose   of   their   meeting.     Eugenius   IV.   was    CENT. 
much  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  a  reformation,  PAUT'II( 

which  he  feared  above  all  things,  and  beholding ! 

with  terror  the  zeal  and  designs  of  these  spiritual 
physicians,  he  attempted  twice  the  dissolving  of 
the  council.  These  repeated  attempts  were  vigo- 
rously and  successfully  opposed  by  the  assembled 
fathers,  who  proved  by  the  decrees  of  the  coun- 
cil of  Constance,  and  by  other  arguments  equally 
conclusive,  that  the  council  was  superior,  in  point 
of  authority,  to  the  Roman  pontiff.  This  contro- 
versy, which  was  the  first  that  had  arisen  between 
tine  council  and  the  pope,  was  terminated  in  the 
month  of  November  1433,  by  the  silence  and 
concessions  of  the  latter,  who,  in  the  month  fol- 
lowing, wrote  a  letter  from  Rome,  containing  his 
approbation  of  the  council,  and  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  its  authority  (t). 

(?)  The  history  of  this  grand  and  memorable  council  is  yet 
wanting.  The  learned  Stephen  Baluzius  (as  we  find  in  the 
Histoire  de  1*  Academic  des  Inscriptions  et  des  Belles  Lettres, 
torn.  vi.  p.  544),  and  after  him  Mr.  Lenfant,  promised  the 
world  a  history  of  this  council ;  but  neither  of  these  valuable 
writers  performed  their  promise  *.  The  acts  of  this  famous 
assembly  have  been  collected  with  incredible  industry,  in  a 
great  number  of  volumes,  from  various  archives  and  libra- 
ries, at  the  expense  of  Rudolphus  Augustus,  duke  of  Bruns- 
wick, by  the  very  learned  and  laborious  Herman  van  der 
Hardt.  They  are  preserved,  as  we  are  informed,  in  the 
library  at  Hanover,  and  they  certainly  deserve  to  be  drawn 
from  their  retreat,  and  published  to  the  world.  In  the  mean 
time,  the  curious  may  consult  the  abridgment  of  the  Acts  of 
this  council,  which  were  published  in  8vo,  at  Paris,  in  the 
year  1512,  and  which  I  have  made  use  of  in  this  history,  as 
also  the  following  authors :  ^Eneae  Sylvii  Lib.  duo  de  Con- 
cilio  Basiliensi. — Edmun.  Richerius,  Histor.  Concilior.  Ge- 
neral, lib.  iii.  cap.  i. — Henr.  Canisii  Lectiones  Antiquae,  torn, 
iv.  p.  447. 

Cj*  *  Dr.  Mosheim  has  here  been  guilty  of  an  oversight ;  for  Lenfant 
did  in  reality  perform  his  promise,  and  composed  the  History  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Basil,  which  he  blended  with  his  History  of  the  War  of  the  Hussites, 
on  account  of  the  connexion  that  there  was  between  these  two  subjects ;  and 
also  because  his  advanced  age  prevented  his  indulging  himself  in  the  hope  of 
being  able  to  give  a  full  and  complete  History  of  the  Council  of  Basil  apart. 


422  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        XII.  These  preliminary  measures  being  finish- 
xv-      ed,  the  council  proceeded  with  zeal  and  activity 

1  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  important  purposes 

The  de-  for  which  it  /was  assembled.  The  popes  legates 
actTof  the  were  admitted  as  members  of  the  council,  but 
council  of  not  before  they  had  declared,  upon  oath,  that  they 
would-  submit  to  the  decrees  that  should  be  enacted 
in  it,  and  more  particularly  that  they  would  ad- 
here to  the  laws  that  had  been  made  in  the 
council  of  Constance,  in  relation  to  the  supremacy 
of  general  councils,  and  the  subordination  of  the 
pontiffs  to  their  authority  and  jurisdiction.  Nay, 
these  very  laws,  which  the  popes  beheld  with  such 
aversion  and  horror,  were  solemnly  renewed  by 
the  council  the  £6th  of  June,  in  the  year  1434, 
and,  on  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  in  the  follow- 
ing year,  the  Annates,  as  they  were  called,  were 
publicly  abolished,  notwithstanding  the  opposi- 
tion that  was  made  to  this  measure  by  the  legates 
of  the  Roman  see.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1436, 
a  confession  of  faith  was  read,  which  every  pontiff 
was  to  subscribe  on  the  day  of  his  election,  the 
number  of  cardinals  was  reduced  to  twenty-four, 
and  the  papal  impositions,  called  Expectatives, 
Reservations,  and  Provisions,  were  entirely  an- 
nulled. These  measures,  with  others  of  a  like 
nature,  provoked  Eugenius  to  the  highest  degree, 
and  made  him  form  a  design,  either  for  removing 
this  troublesome  and  enterprising  council  into 
Italy,  or  of  setting  up  a  new  council  in  opposition 
to  it,  which  might  fix  bounds  to  its  zeal  for  the 
reformation  of  the  church.  Accordingly,  on  the 
7th  of  May,  in  the  year  1437,  the  assembled 
fathers  having,  on  account  of  the  Greeks,  come  to 
a  resolution  of  holding  the  council  at  Basil, 
Avignon,  or  some  city  in  the  duchy  of  Savoy,  the 
intractable  pontiff  opposed  this  motion,  and  main- 
tained that  it  should  be  transferred  into  Italy. 
Each  of  the  contending  parties  persevered,  with 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 


the  utmost  obstinacy,  in  the  resolution  they  had 
taken,  and  this  occasioned  a  warm  and  violent  pARTn. 
contest  between  the  pope  and  the  council.  The  - 
latter  summoned  Eugenius  to  appear  before  them 
at  Basil  the  26th  day  of  July  1437,  in  order  to 
give  an  account  of  his  conduct  ;  but  the  pontiff, 
instead  of  complying  with  this  summons,  issued 
out  a  decree,  by  which  he  pretended  to  dissolve 
the  council,  and  to  assemble  another  at  Ferrara. 
This  decree,  indeed,  was  treated  with  the  utmost 
contempt  by  the  council,  which,  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  emperor,  the  king  of  France,  and 
several  other  princes,  continued  its  deliberations  at 
Basil,  and,  on  the  28th  of  September,  in  this  same 
year,  pronounced  a  sentence  of  contumacy  against 
the  rebellious  pontiff,  for  having  refused  to  obey 
their  order. 

XIII.  In  the  year  1438,  Eugenius  in  person  The  coun- 
opened  the  council,  which  he  had  summoned  to  rala  hei?" 
meet  at  Ferrara,  and  at  the  second  session  thun-  by  Euge- 
dered  out  an  excommunication  against  the  fa-  m 
thers  assembled  at  Basil.  The  principal  business 
that  was  now  to  be  transacted  in  the  pontiff's 
council  was  the  proposed  reconciliation  between 
the  Greek  and  Latin  churches  ;  and,  in  order  to 
bring  this  salutary  and  important  design  to  a 
happy  issue,  the  emperor,  John  Palaeologus,  the 
Grecian  patriarch,  Josephus,  with  the  most  emi- 
nent bishops  and  doctors  among  the  Greeks,  ar- 
rived in  Italy,  and  appeared  in  person  at  Fer- 
rara. What  animated,  in  a  particular  manner, 
the  zeal  of  the  Greeks  in  this  negotiation,  was  the 
extremity  to  which  they  were  reduced  by  the 
Turks,  and  the  pleasing  hope,  that  their  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  Roman  pontiff  would  contribute 
to  engage  the  Latins  in  their  cause.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  there  was  little  done  at  Ferrara,  where 
matters  were  carried  on  too  slowly,  to  afford  any 
prospect  of  an  end  of  their  dissensions  :  but  the 


424  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church, 

CENT,    negotiations  were   more    successful    at   Florence, 
p  \RTII    wn^tner  Eugenius  removed  the  council  about  the 

_J 1  beginning  of  the   year   1439,  on  account  of  the 

plague  that  broke  out  at  Ferrara.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  council  of  Basil,  exasperated  by  the  im- 
perious proceedings  of  Eugenius,  deposed  him 
from  the  papacy  on  the  25th  of  June,  in  the  year 
1439  ;  which  vigorous  measure  was  not  approved 
of  by  the  European  kings  and  princes.  It  may 
be  easily  conceived  what  an  impression  this  step 
made  upon  the  affronted  pontiff;  he  lost  all  pa- 
tience ;  and  devoted,  for  the  second  time,  to  hell 
and  damnation  the  members  of  the  council  of  Ba- 
sil by  a  solemn  and  most  severe  edict,  in  which 
also  he  declared  all  their  acts  null,  and  all  their 
proceedings  unlawful.  This  new  peal  of  papal 
thunder  was  held  in  derision  by  the  council  of 
Basil,  who,  persisting  in  their  purpose,  elected 
another  pontiff,  and  raised  to  that  high  dignity 
Amadeus,  duke  of  Savoy,  who  then  lived  in  the 
most  profound  solitude  at  a  delicious  retreat,  called 
Ripaille,  upon  the  borders  of  the  Leman  Lake, 
and  who  is  known  in  the  papal  list  by  the  name 
of  Felix  V. 

The  church  XIV.  This  election  was  the  occasion  of  the 
wuifr*  r€;vival  °f  tnat  deplorable  schism,  which  had  for- 
schism.  merly  rent  the  church,  and  which  had  been  ter- 
minated with  so  much  difficulty,  and  after  so 
many  vain  and  fruitless  efforts,  at  the  council  of 
Constance.  Nay,  the  new  breach  was  still  more 
lamentable  than  the  former  one,  as  the  flame  was 
kindled  not  only  between  two  rival  pontiffs,  but 
also  between  the  two  contending  councils  of  Basil 
and  Florence.  The  greatest  part  of  the  church 
submitted  to  the  jurisdiction,  and  adopted  the 
cause  of  Eugenius ;  while  Felix  \vas  acknow- 
ledged, as  lawful  pontiff,  by  a  great  number  of 
academies,  and,  among  others,  by  the  famous 
university  of  Paris,  as  also  in  several  kingdoms 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  425 


and  provinces.  The  council  of  Basil  continued 
its  deliberations,  and  went  on  enacting  laws,  and  PAKT  u. 
publishing  edicts,  until  the  year  1443,  notwith-  - 
standing  the  efforts  of  Eugenius  and  his  adhe- 
rents to  put  a  stop  to  their  proceedings.  And, 
though  in  that  year  the  members  of  the  council 
retired  to  their  respective  places  of  abode,  yet 
they  declared  publicly  that  the  council  was  not 
dissolved,  but  would  resume  its  deliberations  at 
Basil,  Lyons,  or  Lausanne,  as  soon  as  a  proper 
opportunity  was  offered. 

In  the  meantime,  the  council  of  Florence,  with 
Eugenius  at  its  head,  was  chiefly  employed  in 
reconciling  the  differences  between  the  Greeks 
and  Latins  ;  which  weighty  business  was  commit- 
ted to  the  prudence,  zeal,  and  piety,  of  a  select 
number  of  eminent  men  on  both  sides.  The  most 
distinguished  among  those  whom  the  Greeks  chose 
for  this  purpose  was  the  learned  Bessarion,  who 
was  afterwards  raised  to  the  dignity  of  cardinal 
in  the  Roman  church.  This  great  man,  engaged 
and  seduced  by  the  splendid  presents  and  pro- 
mises of  the  Latin  pontiff,  employed  the  whole 
extent  of  his  authority,  and  the  power  of  his  elo- 
quence, nay,  he  had  recourse  even  to  promises  and 
threatenings,  to  persuade  the  Greeks  to  accept 
the  conditions  of  peace  that  were  proposed  by 
Eugenius.  These  conditions  required  their  con- 
sent to  the  following  points  :  —  "  That  fche  Holy 
"  Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Son,  as  well  as  from 
"  the  Father  ;  that  departed  souls  were  purified 
"  in  the  infernal  regions,  by  a  certain  kind  of  fire, 
"  before  their  admission  to  the  presence  and  vision 
"  of  the  Deity  ;  —  that  unleavened  bread  might 
"  be  used  in  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
"  Supper;"  —  and  lastly,  which  was  the  main  and 
principal  thing  insisted  upon  by  the  Latins,  that 
the  Roman  pontiff  was  the  supreme  judge,  the 
true  head  of  the  universal  church.  Such  were  the 


426  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  terms  of  peace  to  which  the  Greeks  were  obliged  to 
p  \RT  ii  SUDmu^  all  except  Mark  of  Ephesus,  whom  neither 

_I  _  1  entreaties  nor  rewards  could  move  from  his  purpose, 
or  engage  to  submit  to  a  reconciliation  founded  upon 
such  conditions.  And  indeed  this  reconciliation, 
which  had  been  brought  about  by  various  strata- 
gems, was  much  more  specious  than  solid,  and  had 
by  no  means  stability  sufficient  to  assure  its  dura- 
tion. We  find,  accordingly,  that  the  Grecian  de- 
puties were  no  sooner  returned  to  Constantinople, 
than  they  declared  publicly,  that  all  things  had 
been  carried  on  at  Florence  by  artifice  and  fraud, 
and  renewed  the  schism,  which  had  been  so  im- 
perfectly healed  a  little  time  before.  The  council 
of  Florence  put  an  end  to  its  deliberations  on  the 
26th  of  April,  in  the  year  1442  (&),  without  hav- 
ing executed  any  of  the  designs  that  were  proposed 
by  it,  in  a  satisfactory  manner.  For,  besides  the 
affair  of  the  Greeks,  they  proposed  bringing  the 
Armenians,  Jacobites,  and  more  particularly  the 
Abyssinians,  into  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  church  ; 
but  this  project  was  attended  with  as  little  success 


hla/edunder  ^  ^  °tner- 

thepontuu       XV.    Eugenius  IV.  who  had  been  the  occasion 

<:ateof  Ni-  Of  £ne  new  schism  in  the  see  of  Rome,  died  in 

the  month  of  February,  1447,  and  was  succeeded, 

in  a  few  weeks,  by  Thomas  de  Sarzano,  bishop  of 

(&)  The  History  of  this  Council,  and  of  the  frauds  and 
stratagems  that  were  practised  in  it,  was  composed  by  that 
learned  Grecian,  Sylvester  Sgyropulus,  whose  work  was 
published  at  the  Hague,  in  the  year  1660,  with  a  Latin  trans- 
lation, a  preliminary  discourse,  and  ample  notes  by  the 
learned  Robert  Creighton,  a  native  of  Great  Britain.  This 
History  was  refuted  by  Leo  Allatius,  in  a  work  entitled, 
Exercitationes  in  Creightoni  Apparatum,  Versionem  et 
Notas  ad  Historiam  Concilii  Florentini  scriptam  a  Sguro- 
polo,  Roma?,  1674-,  4*to.  See  the  same  author's  Perpetua 
Consensio  Ecclesiae  Oriental,  et  Occident,  p.  875.  as  also 
Mabillon,  Museum  Italicum,  torn.  i.  p.  243.—  Spanhemius, 
De  perpetua  DKssensione  Eccles.  Orient,  et  Occident,  torn. 
ii.  opp.  p.  4-91.  —  Hermann,  Historia  concertat.  de  pane 
azymo7  part.  II.  cap.  v.  p.  12*. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 

Bologna,  who  filled  the  pontificate  under  the  de-    CENT 
nomination  of  Nicolas  V.     This  eminent  prelate 
had,  in  point  of  merit,  the  best  pretensions  possible 
to  the  papal  throne.     He  was  distinguished  by 
his  erudition  and  genius  ;  he  wras  a  zealous  patron 
and  protector  of  learned  men  ;    and,  what  was 
still  more  laudable,   he  was   remarkable   for  his 
moderation,  and  for  the  meek  and  pacific  spirit 
that    discovered    itself    in    all   his    conduct   and 
actions.      Under   this  pontificate,   the   European 
princes,  and  more  especially  the  king  of  France, 
exerted  their  warmest  endeavours  to  restore  tran- 
quillity and  union  in  the  Latin  church,  and  their 
efforts  were   crowned  with   the   desired   success. 
For,    in   the   year   1449,   Felix  V.  resigned  the 
papal  chair,  and  returned  to  his  delicious  hermi- 
tage at  Ripaille,  while  the  fathers  of  the  council 
of  Basil,   assembled  at  Lausanne  (/),  ratified  his 
voluntary  abdication,   and,  by  a  solemn  decree, 
ordered  the  universal    church  to   submit  to  the 
jurisdiction    of   Nicolas   as   their  lawful   pontiff. 
On    the    other    hand,    Nicolas    proclaimed    this 
treaty  of  peace  with  great  pomp  on  the   18th  of 
June,  in  the  same  year,  and  set  the  seal  of  his  ap- 
probation and  authority  to  the  acts  and  decrees 
of  the  council  of  Basil.    This  pontiff  distinguished 
himself  in  a  very  extraordinary  manner,  by  his 
love  of  learning,  and  by  his  ardent  zeal  for  the 
propagation  of  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences,  which 
he  promoted  in  Italy,  with  great  success,  by  the 
encouragement  he  granted  to  the  learned  Greeks, 
who  came  from  Constantinople  into  that  coun- 
try (ni).     The   principal    occasion  of  his  death 

(/)  The  abdication  of  Felix  V.  was  made  on  the  9th  of 
April,  1449,  and  it  was  ratified  the  16th  day  of  the  month, 
by  the  assembled  fathers  at  Lausanne. 

(m)  See  Dom.  Georgii  Vita  Nicolai  V.  ad  fidem  veterum 
ATonumentorum :  to  which  is  added,  a  treatise,  entitled, 
Disquisitio  de  Nicolai  V,  erga  litteras  et  litteratos  viros  pa- 
trocinio,  published  in  4to,  at  Rome,  in  the  year  174<2. 


428  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    was  the  fatal  revolution  that  threw  this  capital  of 
xv*      the  Grecian  empire  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks ; 

PART   II.  ,  ,    .  .    . 

-  this  melancholy  event  preyed  upon  his  spirits,  and 

at  length  ended  his  days  on  the  24th  of  March, 
in  the  year  1455. 

XVI.  His  successor  Alphonsus  Borgia,  who 
was  a  native  of  Spain,  and  is  known  in  the  papal 
list  by  the  denomination  of  Calixtus  III.  was  re- 
markable for  nothing  but  his  zeal  in  animating  the 
Christian  princes  to  make  war  upon  the  Turks  ; 
his  reign  also  was  short,  for  he  died  in  the  year 
1458.  ^Eneas  Sylvius  Piccolomini,  who  suc- 
ceeded him  in  the  pontificate  that  same  year, 

Pius  II.  under  the  title  of  Pius  II.  rendered  his  name 
much  more  illustrious,  not  only  by  his  extensive 
genius,  and  the  important  transactions  that  were 
carried  on  during  his  administration,  but  also  by 
the  various  and  useful  productions  with  which 
he  enriched  the  republic  of  letters.  The  lustre 
of  his  fame  was,  indeed,  tarnished  by  a  scanda- 
lous proof  which  he  gave  of  his  fickleness  and 
inconstancy,  or  rather  perhaps  of  his  bad  faith  ; 
for  after  having  vigorously  defended  against  the 
pontiffs,  the  dignity  and  prerogatives  of  general 
councils,  and  maintained  with  peculiar  boldness 
and  obstinacy  the  cause  of  the  council  of  Basil 
against  Eugenius  IV.  he  ignominiously  renounced 
these  generous  principles  upon  his  accession  to 
the  pontificate,  and  acted  in  direct  opposition 
to  them  during  the  whole  course  of  his  admi- 
nistration. Thus,  in  the  year  1460,  he  denied 
publicly  that  the  pope  was  subordinate  to  a 
general  council,  and  even  prohibited  all  appeals 
to  such  a  council  under  the  severest  penalties. 
The  year  following,  he  obtained  from  Lewis  XI. 
king  of  France,  the  abrogation  of  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction,  which  favoured,  in  a  particular  manner, 
the  pretensions  of  the  general  councils  to  supre- 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors^  Church-Government,  &c.  429 

macy  in  the  church  (n).     But  the  most  egregious    CENT. 
instance  of  impudence  and  perfidy  that  he  exhi- 


xv. 

PART  II. 


(n)  There  was  a  famous  edict,  entitled  the  Prag- 
matic Sanction,  issued  out  by  Lewis  IX.  who,  though  he  is 
honoured  with  a  place  in  the  Kalendar,  was  yet  a  zealous 
assertor  of1  the  liberty  and  the  privileges  of  the  Gallican 
church,  against  the  despotic  encroachments  and  pretensions 
of  the  Roman  pontiffs.  It  was  against  their  tyrannical  pro- 
ceedings, and  intolerable  extortions,,  that  this  edict  was 
chiefly  levelled  -,  and  though  some  creatures  of  the  court  of 
Rome  have  thrown  out  insinuations  of  its  being  a  spurious 
production,  yet  the  contrary  is  evident  from  its  having  been 
registered,  as  the  authentic  edict  of  that  pious  monarch,  by 
the  parliament  of  Paris,  in  the  year  1461,  by  the  states  of  the 
kingdom  assembled  at  Tours  in  the  year  1483,  and  by  the 
university  of  Paris;  in  1491. — See  for  a  further  account  of  this 
edict,  the  excellent  History  of  France,  begun  by  the  Abbe 
Velly,  and  continued  by  M.  Villaret,  vol.  vi.  p.  57. 

The  edict  which  Dr.  Mosheim  has  in  view  here  is  the 
Pragmatic  Sanction  that  was  drawn  up  at  Bourges,  in  the 
year  1438,  by  Charles  VII.  king  of  France,  with  the  consent 
of  the  most  eminent  prelates  and  grandees  of  the  nation, 
who  were  assembled  at  that  place.  This  edict,  which  was 
absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  deliver  the  French  clergy 
from  the  vexations  they  suffered  from  the  encroachments  of 
the  popes,  ever  since  the  latter  had  fixed  their  residence  at 
Avignon,  consisted  of  twenty-three  articles,  in  which,  among 
other  salutary  regulations,  the  elections  to  vacant  benefices 
were  restored  to  their  ancient  purity  and  freedom* ;  the 
Annates  and  other  pecuniary  pretensions  and  encroachments 
of  the  pontiffs  abolished,  and  the  authority  of  a  general 
council  declared  superior  to  that  of  the  pope.  This  edict 
was  drawn  up  in  concert  with  the  fathers  of  the  council  of 
Basil,  and  the  twenty-three  articles  it  contains  were  taken 
from  the  decrees  of  that  council ;  though  they  were  admitted 
by  the  Gallican  church  with  certain  modifications,  which  the 
nature  of  the  times,  and  the  manners  of  the  nation  rendered 
expedient.  Such  then  was  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  which 
Pope  Pius  II.  engaged  Lewis  XI.  (who  received  upon  that 

$3"  *  That  is  to  say,  that  these  elections  were  wrested  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  popes,  who  had  usurped  them;  and  that,  by  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  every 
church  had  the  privilege  of  choosing  its  bishop,  and  every  monastery  its  abbot 
or  prior.  By  the  concordate,  or  agreement,  between  Francis  I.  and  Leo  X. 
(which  was  substituted  in  the  place  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction)  the  nomination 
to  the  bishoprics  in  France,  and  the  collation  of  certain  benefices  of  the  higher 
class,  were  vested  in  the  kings  of  France.  An  ample  and  satisfactory  accoun  t 
of  this  convention  may  be  seen  in  bishop  Burnet's  excellent  History  of  the 
Reformation,  vol.  iii.  p.  3.  and  in  a  book  entitled,  Histoire  du  Droit  publ 
Ecclesiastique  Francis,  published  in  8vo,  in  1737,  and  in  4to,  in  1752 


430 

CENT. 
XV. 

PART  II, 


Paulus  II. 


The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

bited  to  the  world  was  in  the  year  1463,  when  he 
published  a  solemn  retractation  of  all  that  he  had 
.  written  in  favour  of  the  council  of  Basil,  and 
declared,  without  either  shame  or  hesitation,  that, 
as  ^Eneas  Sylvius,  he  was  a  damnable  heretic  ; 
but,  as  Pius  II.  he  was  an  orthodox  pontiff.  This 
indecent  declaration  was  the  last  circumstance, 
worthy  of  notice,  that  happened  during  his  pon- 
tificate ;  for  he  departed  this  life  in  the  month  of 
July,  in  the  year  1464  (o). 

XVII.  Paul  II.  a  Venetian  by  birth,  whose 
name  was  Peter  Bard,  was  raised  to  the  head  of 
the  church  in  the  year  1464,  and  died  in  the  year 
1471-  His  administration  was  distinguished  by 
some  measures,  which,  if  we  consider  the  genius 
of  the  times,  were  worthy  of  praise  ;  though  it 
must,  at  the  same  time  be  confessed,  that  he  did 
many  things,  which  were  evidently  inexcusable, 
not  to  mention  his  reducing  the  jubilee  circle 
to  twenty-five  years  ;  and  thus  accelerating  the 
return  of  that  most  absurd  and  superstitious  cere- 
mony. So  that  his  reputation  became  at  least 

occasion,  for  him  and  his  successors,  the  title  of  Most  Chris- 
tian) to  abolish,,  by  a  solemn  declaration,,  the  full  execution 
of  which  was,  however,  prevented  by  the  noble  stand  made  by 
the  university  of  Paris  in  favour  of  the  Pragmatic  Sanction. 
Lewis  also  perceiving  that  he  had  been  deluded  into  this 
declaration  by  the  treacherous  insinuations  of  Geoffry,  bishop 
of  Arras  (whom  the  pope  had  bribed  with  a  cardinal's  cap, 
and  large  promises  of  a  more  lucrative  kind),  took  no  sort 
of  pains  to  have  it  executed,  but  published,  on  the  contrary, 
new  edicts  against  the  pecuniary  pretensions  and  extortions 
of  the  court  of  Rome.  So  that  in  reality  the  Pragmatic 
Sanction  was  not  abolished  before  the  Concordate,  or  agree- 
ment, which  was  transacted  between  Francis  I.  and  Leo  X.  in 
the  year  1517,  and  was  forced  upon  the  French  nation  in 
opposition  to  the  united  efforts  of  the  clergy,  the  university, 
the  parliament,  and  the  people.  See,  for  a  farther  account 
of  this  matter,  Du  Clos,  Histoire  de  Louis  XL  vol.  i.  p.  115 
—132. 

(o)  Besides  the  writers  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  see  Nou- 
veaux  Diction.  Histor  et  Critique,  torn.  ii.  at  the  article  Enee 
Sylvius,  p.  26. 


CHAP.  ii.  Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  4-31 

dubious  in  after-times,  and  was  viewed  in  different    CENT. 
lights  by  different  persons  (p\      The   following      xv> 

O  J  TTTT  1        T  -17TTT  1  PART    II. 

pontiffs,  Sixtus  IV.  arid  Innocent  Vlll.  whose 
names  were  Francis  Albescola  and  John  Baptist 
Sibo,  were  neither  remarkable  for  their  virtues  nor 
their  vices.  The  former  departed  this  life  in  the 
year  1484,  and  the  latter  in  1492.  Filled  with 
the  most  terrible  apprehensions  of  the  danger  that 
threatened  Europe  in  general,  and  Italy  in  parti- 
cular, from  the  growing  power  of  the  Turks,  they 
both  attempted  putting  themselves  into  a  posture 
of  defence,  and  warmly  "exhorted  the  European 
princes  to  put  a  stop  to  the  progress  of  that 
warlike  people.  But  many  obstacles  arose,  which 
prevented  the  execution  of  this  important  design, 
and  rendered  the  exhortations  of  these  zealous 
pontiffs  without  effect.  The  other  undertakings 
that  were  projected  or  carried  on,  during  their 
continuance  at  the  head  of  the  church,  are  not 
of  importance  sufficient  to  require  particular 
notice. 

XVIII.  In  the  series  of  pontiffs  that  ruled  the  Alexander 
church  during  this  century,  the  last,  in  order  of VL 
time,  was  Alexander  VI.  a  Spaniard  by  birth, 
whose  name  was  Roderic  Borgia.  The  life  and 
actions  of  this  man  show,  that  there  was  a  Nero 
among  the  popes,  as  well  as  among  the  emperors. 
The  crimes  and  enormities  that  history  has  im- 
puted to  this  papal  Nero,  evidently  prove  him 
to  have  been  not  only  destitute  of  all  religious 
and  virtuous  principles,  but  even  regardless  of 
decency,  and  hardened  against  the  very  feeling 
of  shame.  And,  though  it  may  be  possible,  that 

(p)  Paul  II.  has  had  the  good  fortune  to  find,  in  one  of  the 
most  eminent  and  learned  men  of  this  age  (the  famous  cardi- 
nal Luirini),  a  zealous  apologist.  See  among  the  productions 
of  that  illustrious  prelate,  the  piece  entitled,  "  Pauli  II.  Vita 
ex  Codice  Anglica?  Bibliothecae  desumpta,  prsemisis  ipsius 
vindiciis  adversus  Platinam,  aliosque  obtrectatores,  Roma?, 
1740L"  in  4to. 


43£  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    the  malignity  of  his  enemies   may   have   forged 
PABT  ic,  ^se  accusations  against  him,   and,   in  some  in- 

stances,  exaggerated  the  horror  of  his  real  crimes ; 

yet  there  is  upon  record,  an  authentic  list  of 
undoubted  facts,  which,  both  by  their  number 
and  their  atrocity,  are  sufficient  to  render  the 
name  and  memory  of  Alexander  VI.  odious  and 
detestable  in  the  esteem  even  of  such  as  have  the 
smallest  tincture  of  virtuous  principles  and  feel- 
ings. An  inordinate  affection  for  his  children 
was  the  principal  source  from  whence  proceeded  a 
great  part  of  the  crimes  he  committed.  He  had 
four  sons  of  a  concubine  with  whom  he  had  lived 
many  years.  Among  whom  was  the  infamous 
Caesar  Borgia.  A  daughter,  named  Lucretia, 
was  likewise  among  the  fruits  of  this  unlawful 
commerce.  The  tenderness  of  the  pontiff  for 
this  spurious  offspring  was  excessive  beyond  all 
expression  ;  his  only  aim  was  to  load  them  with 
riches  and  honours ;  and  in  the  execution  of  this 
purpose,  he  trampled  with  contempt  upon  every 
obstacle,  which  the  demands  of  justice,  the  dic- 
tates of  reason,  and  the  remonstrances  of  religion, 
laid  in  his  way  (q*).  Thus  he  went  on  in  his 
profligate  career  until  the  year  1503,  when  the 
poison,  which  he  and  his  son  Caesar  had  mingled 
for  others  who  stood  in  the  way  of  their  avarice 
and  ambition,  cut  short,  by  a  happy  mistake,  his 
own  days  (r). 


(q)  The  life  of  this  execrable  tyrant  has  been  written  in 
English  by  Mr.  Alexander  Gordon,  whose  work  was  trans- 
lated into  French,  and  published  at  Amsterdam  in  1732. 
The  same  subject  has,  however,  been  handled  with  more 
moderation  by  the  ingenious  and  learned  author  of  the  His- 
toire  du  Droit  Publ  Eccles.  Francois,  to  which  History  are 
subjoined  the  lives  of  Alexander  VI.  and  Leo.  X. 

(r)  Such  is  the  account  which  the  best  historians  have 
given  of  the  death  of  Alexander  VI.  Voltaire,  notwithstand- 
ing, has  pretended  to  prove  that  this  pontiff  died  a  natural 
death. 


CHAP.  IT.  DoctyrSy  Church-Government,  Sec.  433 

XIX.  The  monastic  societies,  as  we  learn  from    CENT. 
a  multitude  of  authentic  records,   and  from  the      xv* 
testimonies  of  the  best  writers,  were,  at  this  time,  _ 


so  many  herds  of  lazy,  illiterate,  profligate,  and  The  monks. 
licentious  Epicureans,  whose  views  in  life  were 
confined  to  opulence,  idleness,  and  pleasure.  The 
rich  monks,  particularly  those  of  the  Benedic- 
tine and  Augustine  orders,  perverted  their  reve- 
nues to  the  gratification  of  their  lusts ;  and  re- 
nouncing in  their  conduct  all  regard  to  their 
respective  rules  of  discipline,  drew  upon  them- 
selves a  popular  odium  by  their  sensuality  and 
licentiousness  (.s).  This  was  matter  of  affliction 
to  many  wise  and  good  men,  especially  in  France 
and  Germany,  who  formed  the  pious  design  of 
stemming  the  torrent  of  monkish  luxury,  and 
excited  a  spirit  of  reformation  among  that  dege- 
nerate order  (7).  Among  the  German  reformers, 
wrho  undertook  the  restoration  of  virtue  and  tem- 
perance in  the  convents,  Nicholas  de  Mazen,  an 
Austrian  abbot,  and  Nicholas  Dunkelspuhl,  pro- 
fessor at  Vienna,  held  the  first  rank.  They 
attempted,  with  unparalleled  zeal  and  assiduity, 
the  reformation  of  the  Benedictines  throughout 
all  Germany ;  and  succeeded  so  far,  as  to  re- 
store, at  least,  a  certain  air  of  decency  and  virtue 
in  the  monasteries  of  Swabia,  Franconia,  and 
Bavaria  (11).  The  reformation  of  the  same  order 
was  attempted  in  Fance  by  many,  and  particu- 
larly by  Guido,  or  Guy  Juvenal,  a  learned  man, 
whose  writings,  upon  that  and  on  other  sub- 

(s)  See  Martini  Senging,  Tuitiones  Ordinis  S.  Benedicti, 
seu  Oratio  in  Concilio  Basiliensi,  a.  14-33,  contra  vitia  Be- 
nedict, recitata,  in  Bernh.  Pesii  Biblioth.  Ascetica,  torn.  viii. 
p.  517. 

(£)  See  Leibnitii  Praef.  ad  torn.  ii.  Scriptor.  Brunsvic.  p. 
40. 

(M)  For  an  account  of  these  reformers,  See  Martin  Kropf 
Bibliotheca  Mellicensis,  seu  de  Vitis  et  Scriptis  Benedicti- 
nor.  Mellicensium,  p.  143.  163.  203.  206. 

VOL.   III.  F  F 


434  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,   jects,    were   received   with   applause  (a?).     It  isy 

xv-      however,   certain,  that  the  greatest  part   of  the 

^  monks,  both  in  France  and  elsewhere,  resisted, 


with  obstinacy,  the  salutary  attempts  of  these 
spiritual  physicians,  and  returned  their  zeal  with 
the  worst  treatment  that  it  was  possible  to  show 
them. 

The  Men-  XX.  While  the  opulent  monks  exhibited  to 
dicants.  ^  worj(j  scandalous  examples  of  luxury,  igno- 
rance, laziness,  and  licentiousness,  accompanied 
with  a  barbarous  aversion  to  every  thing  that 
carried  the  remotest  aspect  of  science,  the  Men- 
dicants, and  more  especially  the  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans,  were  chargeable  with  irregularities 
of  another  kind.  Besides  their  arrogance,  which 
was  excessive,  a  quarrelsome  and  litigious  spirit, 
an  ambitious  desire  of  encroaching  upon  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  others,  an  insatiable  zeal 
for  the  propagation  of  superstition,  and  the  itch 
of  disputing  and  of  starting  absurd  and  intricate 
questions  of  a  religious  kind,  prevailed  among 
them,  and  drew  upon  them  justly  the  displeasure 
and  indignation  of  many.  It  was  this  wrangling 
spirit  that  perpetuated  the  controversies  which 
had  subsisted  so  long  between  them  and  the 
bishops,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  sacerdotal  order ; 
and  it  was  their  vain  curiosity,  and  their  inordi- 
nate passion  for  novelty,  that  made  the  divines, 
in  the  greatest  part  of  the  European  academies, 
complain  of  the  dangerous  and  destructive  errors 
they  had  introduced  into  religion.  These  com- 
plaints were  repeated,  without  interruption,  in 
all  the  provinces  where  the  Mendicants  had  any 
credit ;  and  the  same  complaints  were  often  pre- 
sented to  the  court  of  Rome,  where  they  exercised 
sufficiently  both  the  patience  and  subtilty  of  the 
pontiffs  and  their  ministers.  The  different  pon- 

(oA  SeeLiron,  Singularites  Historiques  et  Litteraires,  torn, 
iii.  p.  49. 


CHAP.  ir.  Doctors,  Church -Government)  £c.  4"5 

tiffs  that   ruled  the  church  during  this  century    CENT. 

xv. 

PART  IT. 


were  differently  affected  towards  the  Mendicants ; 
some  patronized  them,  others  opposed  them  ;  . 
and  this  circumstance  frequently  changed  the  face 
of  things,  and,  for  a  long  time,  rendered  the 
decision  of  the  contest  dubious  (>).  The  perse- 
cution that  was  carried  on  against  the  Beguins 
became  also  an  occasion  of  increasing  the  odium 
that  had  been  cast  upon  the  begging  monks, 
and  was  extremely  prejudicial  to  their  interests. 
For  the  Begums  and  Lollards,  to  escape  the  fury 
of  their  inveterate  enemies,  the  bishops  and 
others,  frequently  took  refuge  in  the  third  order  of 
the  Franciscans,  Dominicans,  and  Augustinians ; 
hoping  that,  in  the  patronage  and  protection  of 
these  powerful  and  respected  societies,  they  should 
find  a  secure  retreat  from  the  calamities  that 
oppressed  them.  Nor  were  their  hopes  entirely 
disappointed  here  ;  but  the  storm  that  hitherto 
pursued  them  fell  upon  their  new  patrons  and 
protectors,  the  Mendicants ;  who,  by  affording 
a  refuge  to  a  sect  so  odious  to  the  clergy,  drew 
upon  themselves  the  indignation  of  that  sacred 
order,  and  were  thereby  involved  in  difficulties 
and  perplexities  of  various  kinds  (?/). 


XXI,  The  more  austere  and  rebellious  Fran- The  fate  <>f 
ciscans,    who,    separating    themselves    from    the the  Fratri- 
church,  renounced  their  allegiance  to  the  Roman  °e 
pontiffs,  and  were  distinguished  by  the  appellation 
of  Fratricelli,  or  Minorites,   continued,  together 
with  their  Tertiaries,  the  Beghards,  to  carry  on 
an  open  war  against  the  court  of  Rome.     Their 
head-quarters  were  in  Italy,  in  the  marquisate  of 
Ancona,  and  the  neighbouring  countries  ;  for  it 

(x)  See  Launoii  Lib.  deCanone  :  Omnis  Utriusque  Sexus, 
opp.  torn.  i.  part.  1.  p.  287. — Boulay,  Hist.  Acad.  Paris,  torn. 
v.  p.  189.  196.  204.  522.  558-  601.  617.  752.— Ant.  Wood, 
Antiq.  Oxon.  torn.  i.  p.  210.  212.  224. 

(y)  See  the  preceding  century. 

F  F  2 


'•'3  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

SNT.    was  there  that  their  leader  and  chief  ruler  resided. 

^v-  They  were  persecuted  about  the  middle  of  this 
^_  century,  with  the  greatest  severity,  by  pope  Ni- 
colas V.  who  employed  every  method  he  could 
think  of  to  vanquish  their  obstinacy,  sending 
for  that  purpose  successively  against  them  the 
Franciscan  monks,  armed  hosts,  and  civil  magi- 
strates, and  committing  to  the  flames  many  of 
those  who  remained  unmoved  by  all  these  means 
pf  Conversion  (#).  This  heavy  persecution  was 
carried  on  by  the  succeeding  pontiffs,  and  by 
none  with  greater  bitterness  and  vehemence  than 
by  Paul  II.  though  it  is  said,  that  this  pope 
chose  rather  to  conquer  the  headstrong  and  stub- 
born perseverance  of  this  sect  by  imprisonment 
and  exile  than  by  fire  and  sword  (<?).  The  Fra- 
tricelli,  on  the  other  hand,  animated  by  the  pro- 
tection of  several  persons  of  great  influence,  who 
became  their  patrons  on  account  of  the  striking 
appearance  of  sanctity  which  they  exhibited  to  the 
world,  opposed  force  to  force,  and  went  so  far  as 
to  put  to  death  some  of  the  inquisitors,  among 
whom  Angelo  of  Camaldoli  fell  a  victim  to  their 
vengeance  (£).  Nor  were  the  commotions  raised 
by  this  troublesome  sect  confined  to  Italy  ;  other 
countries  felt  the  effects  of  their  petulant  zeal ;  and 
Bohemia  and  Silesia  (where  they  preached  with 
warmth  their  favourite  doctrine,  "  that  the  true 


(»)  Mauritius  Sartius,  De  Antiqua  Picentum  Civitate  Cu- 
promontana,  in  Angeli  Calogerae  Raccolta  di  Opusculi  Sci- 
entifici,  torn,  xxxix.  p.  39.  81.  97.  where  we  have  several 
extracts  from  the  Manuscript  Dialogue  of  Jacobus  de  Mar- 
ehia,  against  the  Fratricelli. 

(a)  Ang.  Mar.  Quirini  Vita  Pauli  II.  p.  78. — Jo.  Targi- 
onus,  Praef.  ad  Claror.  Venetor.  Epistolas  ad  Magliabechium, 
torn,  i.  p.  43.  where  we  have  an  account  of  the  books  that 
were  written  against  the  Fratricelli  by  Nicholas  Palmerius 
and  others  under  the  Pontificate  of  Paul  II.  and  which  are 
yet  in  manuscript. 

(£)  See  the  Acta  Sanctor.  torn.  ii.  Maii.  p.  356. 


CHAP.  ii.   Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c. 


"  imitation  of  Christ  consisted  in  beggary,  and 
"  extreme  poverty")  became  the  theatre  of  the  PART  i 
spiritual  war  (c).  The  king  of  Bohemia  was  well  •  -  — 
affected  to  these  fanatics,  granted  them  his  pro- 
tection, and  was  on  that  account  excommunicated 
by  Paul  II  (d).  In  France,  their  affairs  were  far 
from  being  prosperous  ;  such  of  them  as  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  inquisitors  were  committed  to  the 
flames  (e\  and  they  were  eagerly  searched  after  in 
the  province  of  Tholouse  and  the  adjacent  coun- 
tries, where  great  numbers  of  them  lay  concealed, 
and  endeavoured  to  escape  the  vigilance  of  their 
enemies  ;  while  several  of  their  scattered  parties 
removed  to  England  and  Ireland  (,/*)•  The 
dreadful  series  of  calamities  and  persecutions  that 
pursued  this  miserable  sect  was  not  sufficient  to 
extinguish  it  entirely  ;  for  it  subsisted  until  the 
times  of  the  Reformation  in  Germany,  when  its 
remaining  votaries  adopted  the  cause  and  em- 
braced the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  Luther. 

XXII.  Of  the  religious  fraternities  that  were  New  or. 
founded  in  this  century,  none   deserves  a   more  ^"thr^n 
honourable  mention  than  the  Brethren  and  Clerks  and  Clerks 
of  the  Common  Life  (as  they  called  themselves),  ^n  LuT" 
who  lived  under  the  rule  of   St.  Augustine,  and 
were  eminently  useful  in  promoting  the  cause  of 
religion,  learning,  and  virtue.     This  society  had 
been  formed  in  the  preceding  age  by  Gerard  de 
Groote,  a  native   of  Deventer  (g\  and   a  man 

(c)  Jo.  Georgii  Schelhornii  Acta  Historica  Eccles.  part.  I. 
p.  66.  283. 

(d)  Quirini  Vita  Pauli  II.  p.  73. 

(e)  I  have  in  manuscript,  in  my  possession,  the  acts  or  de- 
crees of  the  inquisition  against  John  Gudulchi  de  Castellione 
and  Francis  de  Archata,  both  of  them  Fratricelli,  who  were 
burnt  in  France,  in  the  year  14-54?. 

(/)  Wood,  Antiqq.  Oxoniens.  torn.  i.  p.  232. 

(g)  The  life  of  this  famous  Dutchman,  Gerard  Groote,  was 
written  by  Thomas  a  Kempis,  and  is  to  be  found  in  his  works. 
It  stands  at  the  head  of  the  lives  of  eleven  of  his  contempora- 
ries, which  were  composed  by  this  eminent  writer. 


PART  II. 


4£8  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  remarkable  for  his  fervent  piety  and  extensive 
[V-  erudition  ;  it  was  not,  however,  before  the  present 
century  that  it  received  a  proper  degree  of  con- 
sistence, and,  having  obtained  the  approbation  of 
the  council  of  Constance,  flourished  in  Holland, 
the  Lower  Germany,  and  the  adjacent  provinces. 
It  was  divided  into  two  classes,  the  Lettered  Bre- 
thren, or  Clerks,  and  the  Illiterate,  who,  though 
they  occupied  separate  habitations,  lived  in  the 
firmest  bonds  of  fraternal  union.  The  Clerks 
applied  themselves  with  exemplary  zeal  and  assi- 
duity to  the  study  of  polite  literature,  and  to  the 
education  of  youth.  They  composed  learned 
works  for  the  instruction  of  their  contemporaries, 
and  erected  schools  and  seminaries  of  learning 
wherever  they  went.  The  Illiterate  Brethren,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  employed  in  manual  labour, 
and  exercised  with  success  the  mechanic  arts. 
Neither  of  the  two  classes  were  under  the  restraint 
of  religious  vows ;  yet  they  had  all  things  in  com- 
mon, and  this  community  was  the  great  bond  of 
their  union.  The  Sisters  of  this  virtuous  society 
lived  much  in  the  same  manner,  and  employed 
the  hours  that  were  not  consecrated  to  prayer  and 
reading  in  the  education  of  young  girls,  and  in 
branches  of  industry  suitable  to  their  sex.  The 
schools,  that  were  erected  by  the  Clerks  of  this 
fraternity,  acquired  a  great  and  illustrious  reputa- 
tion in  this  century.  From  them  issued  forth  those 
immortal  restorers  of  learning  and  taste  that  gave 
a  new  face  to  the  republic  of  letters  in  Germany 
and  Holland,  such  as  Erasmus  of  Rotterdam, 
Alexander  Hegius,  John  Murmelius,  and  several 
others  (/f).  The  institution  of  the  order  of  the 


(h)  Accounts  of  this  order  have  been  given  by  Aub. 
Mireus,  in  his  Chronicon  ad  a.  1384,  and  by  Helyot,  in  his 
History  of  the  Religious  Orders,  tom.iii.  But,  in  that  which 
I  have  here  given,  there  are  some  circumstances  taken  from 
ancient  records  not  yet  published.  I  have  in  my  possession 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  4-39 

Jesuits    seemed  to    dimmish  the  credit  of  these    CENT. 

xv. 

PART  II. 


excellent  schools,  which,  from  that  period,  began 


to  decline,  and  of  which  there  are,  at  this  time, 
but  very  few  remaining.  The  Brethren  of  the 
Common  Life  were  frequently  called  Beghards 
and  Lollards,  appellations  that  had  been  given  to 
so  many  different  sects,  and  were  obliged  to  sus- 
tain the  insults  and  opposition  of  the  clergy  and 
monks,  who  had  an  inexpressible  aversion  to  every 
thing  that  bore  the  remotest  aspect  of  learning  or 
taste  (i). 

XXIII.  Of  the  Greeks  who  acquired  a  name  The  Greek 
by  their  learned  productions,  the  most   eminent writers- 
were, 

Simeon  of  Thessalonica,  the  author  of  several 
treatises,  and,  among  others,  of  a  book  against  the 
Heresies  that  had  troubled  the  church ;  to  which 
we  may  add  his  writings  against  the  Latins,  which 
are  yet  extant  (/r)  ; 

Josephus  Bryennius,  who  wrote  a  book  concern- 
ing the  Trinity,  and  another  against  the  Latins ; 

Macarius  Macres,  whose  animosity  against  the 
Latins  was  carried  to  the  greatest  height ; 

George  Phranza,  whose  historical  talent  makes 
a  figure  in  the  compilation  of  the  Byzantine 
historians  ; 


several  manuscripts,  which  furnish  materials  for  a  much 
clearer  and  more  circumstantial  account  of  the  institution  and 
progress  of  this  order  than  can  be  derived  from  the  books 
that  have  hitherto  appeared  on  that  subject. 

(i)  We  read  frequently,  in  the  records  of  this  century,  of 
schools  erected  by  the  Lollards,  and  sometimes  by  the  Beg- 
hards,, at  Deventer,  Brunswic,  Koningsberg,  and  Munster, 
and  many  other  places.  Now  these  Lollards  were  the  Clerks 
of  the  Common  Life,  who,  on  account  of  their  virtue,  industry, 
and  learning,  which  rendered  them  so  useful  in  the  education 
of  youth,  were  invited  by  the  magistrates  of  several  cities  to 
reside  among  them. 

(k}  Jo.  Alb.  Fabricius,  Bibl.  Graec.  vol.  xiv.  p.  49. — Rich. 
Simon,  Critique  de  la  Bibliotheque  Eccles.  par  M.  Du  Pin, 
torn.  i.  p.  400. 


440  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        Marcus  Ephesus,  who  was  an  obstinate  enemy 
PART  IT 


to  ^e  council  of  Florence  (/) 


Cardinal  Bessarion,  the  illustrious  protector 
and  supporter  of  the  Platonic  school,  a  man  of 
unparalleled  genius  and  erudition  ;  but  much 
hated  by  the  Greeks,  because  he  seemed  to  lean 
to  the  party  of  the  Latins,  and  proposed  an  union 
of  the  two  nations  to  the  prejudice  of  the  for- 
mer (m)  ; 

George  Scholarius,  otherwise  called  Gennadius, 
who  wrote  against  the  Latins,  and  more  especially 
against  the  council  of  Florence,  with  more  learn- 
ing, candour,  and  perspicuity  than  the  rest  of  his 
countrymen  (;z)  ; 

George  Gemistius  -Pletho,  a  man  of  eminent 
learning,  who  excited  many  of  the  Italians  to  the 
study,  not  only  of  the  Platonic  philosophy  in  par- 
ticular, but  of  Grecian  literature  in  general  ; 

George  of  Trapesond,  who  translated  several  of 
the  most  eminent  Grecian  authors  into  Latin,  and 
supported  the  cause  of  the  Latins  against  the 
Greeks  by  his  dexterous  and  eloquent  pen  ; 

George  Codinus,  of  whom  we  have  yet  remain- 
ing several  productions  relating  to  the  Byzantine 
history. 

XXIV.  The  tribe  of  Latin  writers  that  adorned 
or  dishonoured  this  century  is  not  to  be  numbered. 
We  shall  therefore  confine  ourselves  to  the  enu- 
meration of  those  who  wrote  upon  theological 
matters,  and  even  of  these  we  shall  only  mention 


(/)    Rich.  Simon,  1.  c.  torn.  i.  p.  431. 

(m)  For  an  account  of  Bessarion,  and  the  other  learned  men 
here  mentioned,  see  Bornerus  and  Hody,  in  their  histories  of 
the  Restoration  of  Letters  in  Italy,  by 'the  Greeks  that  took 
refuge  there,  after  the  taking  of  Constantinople  :  add  to  these 
the  Bibliotheca  Grseca  of  Fabricius. 

(n)  Rich.  Simon,  Croyance  de  FEglise  Orientale  sur  la 
Transubstantiation,  p.  87.  &  Critique  de  M.  Du  Pin,  torn.  i. 
p.  4-38. 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  441 

the  most  eminent.     At  their  head  we  may  justly    CENT. 
place  John  Gerson,  chancellor  of  the  university 

i  "PAH 'PIT 

of  Paris,  the  most  illustrious  ornament  that  this | 

age  can  boast  of;  a  man  of  the  greatest  influence 
and  authority,  whom  the  council  of  Constance 
looked  upon  as  its  oracle,  the  lovers  of  liberty  as 
their  patron,  and  whose  memory  is  yet  precious 
to  such  among  the  French  as  are  at  all  zealous 
for  the  maintenance  of  their  privileges  against 
papal  despotism  (o).  This  excellent  man  pub- 
lished a  considerable  number  of  treatises  that 
were  admirably  adapted  to  reform  the  corruptions 
of  a  superstitious  worship,  to  excite  a  spirit  of 
genuine  piety,  and  to  heel  the  wounds  of  a  divided 
church  ;  though,  in  some  respects,  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  understood  thoroughly  the  demands 
and  injunctions  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The 
most  eminent  among  the  other  theological  writers 
were, 

Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  a  man  of  uncommon 
candour  and  integrity,  who  lamented,  in  the  most 
eloquent  and  affecting  strains,  the  calamities  of 
the  times,  and  the  unhappy  state  of  the  Christian 
church  (p) ; 

Alphonsus  Tostatus,  bishop  of  Avila,  who 
loaded  the  Holy  Scriptures  with  an  unwieldy  and 
voluminous  Commentary,  and  composed  also  other 
works,  in  which  there  is  a  great  mixture  of  good 
and  bad ; 

(o)  See  Du  Pin,  Gersonianorum  Libri  iv.  which  are  pre- 
fixed to  the  edition  of  the  works  of  Gerson,  which  we  owe  to 
that  laborious  author,  and  which  was  published  at  Antwerp 
in  five  volumes  folio,  in  the  year  1706.  See  also  Jo.  Launoii 
Historia  Gymnasii  Regii  Navarreni,  part.  III.  lib.  ii.  cap.  i. 
p.  514.  torn.  iv.  p.  I.  opp. — Herm.  von  der  Hardt.  Acta  Con- 
cil.  Constant,  torn.  i.  part.  IV.  p.  26. 

(p}  See  Launoii  Histor.  Gymnas.  Navarr.  part.  III.  lib.  ii. 
cap.  iii.  p.  555. — Longueval,  Hist  de  1'Eglise  Gallicane,  torn, 
xiv.  p.  436.  The  works  of  Clemangis  \vere  published,  some 
pieces  excepted,  at  Leyden,  with  a  Glossary,  in  the  year 
1631,  by  Lydius. 


442  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        Ambrose   of  Camalduli,  who  acquired  a  high 
PART  ii.  Degree  of  reputation  by  his  profound  knowledge 
of  the   Greek  language,   and  his   uncommon  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Grecian  literature,  as  also  by 
the  zeal  and  industry  he  discovered  in  the  attempts 
he  made  to  effectuate  a  reconciliation  between  the 
Greeks  and  Latins ; 

Nicholas  de  Cusa,  a  man  of  vast  erudition,  and 
no  mean  genius,  though  not  so  famed  for  the  so- 
lidity of  his  judgment,  as  may  appear  from  a  work 
of  his  entitled,  Conjectures  concerning  the  Last 
Day  (?)  ; 

John  Nieder,  whose  writings  are  very  proper 
to  give  us  an  accurate  notion  of  the  manners  and 
spirit  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  and  whose 
voyages  and  transactions  have  rendered  him  fa- 
mous ; 

John  Capistran,  who  was  in  high  esteem  at  the 
court  of  Rome,  on  account  of  the  ardour  and 
vehemence  with  which  he  defended  the  jurisdic- 
tion and  majesty  of  the  pontiffs  against  all  their 
enemies  and  opposers  (r); 

John  Wesselus  and  Jerome  Savanarola,  who  may 
justly  be  placed  among  the  wisest  and  worthiest 
men  of  this  age.  The  former,  who  was  a  native 
of  Groningen,  and  on  account  of  his  extraordinary 
penetration  and  sagacity  was  called  the  Light  of 
the  World,  propagated  several  of  those  doctrines 
which  Luther  afterwards  inculcated  with  greater 
evidence  and  energy,  and  animadverted  with 
freedom  and  candour  upon  the  corruptions  of  the 
Roman  church  (Y).  The  latter  was  a  Dominican 
and  a  native  of  Ferrara,  remarkable  for  piety, 


(q)  Bayle,  Reponse  aux  Questions  d'un  Provincial,  torn.  ii. 
cap.  cxvii.  p.  517. — The  works  of  Nicholas  were  published  in 
one  volume,  at  Basil,  in  the  year  1565. 

(r)  Lenfant,  Histoire  de  la  Guerre  des  Hussites,  torn.  ii. 
p.  254-.— Waddingi  Annales  Minorum,  torn.  ix.  p.  67. 

(s)  Jo.  Henr.  Maii  Vitae  Reuchlini,  p.  156. 


PART   II, 


CHAP.  ii.    Doctors,  Church-Government,  &c.  443 

eloquence,  and  learning  ;  who  touched  the  sores  CENT. 
of  the  church  with  a  heavier  hand,  and  inveighed 
against  the  pontiffs  with  greater  severity.  This 
freedom  cost  him  dear  ;  he  was  committed  to  the 
flames  at  Florence  in  the  year  1498,  and  bore  his 
fate  with  the  most  triumphant  fortitude  and  sere- 
nity of  mind  (£); 

Alphonsus  Spina,  who  wrote  a  book  against  the 
Jews  and  Saracens,  which  he  called  Fortalitium 
Fidei. 

To  all  these  we  must  join  the  whole  tribe  of  the 
scholastic  writers,  whose  chief  ornaments  were, 
John  Capreolus,  John  de  Turrecremata,  Antoni- 
nus of  Florence,  Dionysius  a  Ryckel,  Henry 
Gorcomius,  Gabriel  Biel,  Stephen  Brulifer,  and 
others.  The  most  remarkable  among  the  Mystics 
were  Vincentius  Ferrerinus,  Henr.  Harphius, 
Laurentius  Justiriianus,  Bernardinus  Senensis,  and 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  who  shone  among  these  with  a 
superior  lustre,  and  to  whom  the  famous  book, 
Concerning  the  Imitation  of  Christ,  is  commonly 
attributed  (it). 

(t)  B.  Jo.  Franc.  Budei  Parerga  Historico-Theologica. 
The  life  of  Savanarola  was  written  by  J.  Francis  Picus,  and 
published  in  two  volumes  8vo,  at  Paris,  with  various  Anno- 
tations, Letters,  and  original  pieces  by  Quetif,  in  the  year 
1674.  The  same  editor  published  also  at  Paris,  that  same 
year,  the  Spiritual  and  Ascetic  Epistles  of  Savanarola,  trans- 
lated from  the  Italian  into  Latin.  See  Echard,  Scriptor. 
Praedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  884. 

(u)  The  late  Abbe  Langlet  de  Fresnoy  promised  the 
world  a  demonstration  that  this  famous  book,  whose  true 
author  has  been  so  much  disputed  among  the  learned,  was 
originally  written  in  French  by  a  person  named  Gersen,  or 
Gerson,  and  only  translated  into  Latin  by  Thomas  a  Kem- 
pis. See  Granetus  in  Launoianis,  part.  II.  torn.  iv.  part.  II. 
opp.  p.  414,  415.  The  history  of  this  famous  book  is  given 
by  Vincentius  Thuillierius,  in  the  Opera  Posthuma  Mabil- 
loni  et  Ruinarti,  torn.  iii.  p.  54. 


444  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Concerning  the  State  of  Religion,  and  the  Doc- 
trine of  the  Church,  during  this  Century. 

CENT.        I.  THE  state  of  religion  was  become  so  corrupt 
'II.  am(>ng  the   Latins,  that  it  was  utterly  destitute 
of  any  thing  that  could  attract  the  esteem  of  the 


The  corrupt  truly  virtuous   and   judicious   part   of   mankind. 

state  of  reli-  ^  .'    .          r  L'VL  "L  •     J- 

gion.  Ihis  is  a  fact,  which  even  they  whose  prejudices 
render  them  unwilling  to  acknowledge  it  will 
never  presume  to  deny.  Among  the  Greeks  and 
Orientals,  religion  had  scarcely  a  better  aspect 
than  among  the  Latins  ;  at  least,  if  the  difference 
was  in  their  favour,  it  was  far  from  being  consi- 
derable. The  worship  of  the  Deity  consisted  in 
a  round  of  frivolous  and  insipid  ceremonies.  The 
discourses  of  those  who  instructed  the  people  in 
public  were  not  only  destitute  of  sense,  judgment, 
and  spirit,  but  even  of  piety  and  devotion,  and 
were  in  reality  nothing  more  than  a  motley  mix- 
ture of  the  grossest  fictions,  and  the  most  extrava- 
gant inventions.  The  reputation  of  Christian 
knowledge  and  piety  was  easily  acquired  ;  it  was 
lavished  upon  those  who  professed  a  profound 
veneration  for  the  sacred  order,  and  their  ghostly 
head  the  Roman  pontiff,  who  studied  to  render  the 
saints  (i.  e.  the  clergy,  their  ministers)  propitious 
by  frequent  and  rich  donations,  who  were  exact 
and  regular  in  the  observance  of  the  stated  cere- 
monies of  the  church,  and  who  had  wealth  enough 
to  pay  the  fines  which  the  papal  quaestors  had  an- 
nexed to  the  commission  of  all  the  different  de- 
grees of  transgression  ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  pur- 
chase  indulgences.  Such  were  the  ingredients  of 
ordinary  piety  ;  but  such  as  added  to  these  a 
certain  degree  of  austerity  and  bodily  morti- 


CHAP.  in.       The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  445 

fication    were   placed   in   the    highest    order    of    CENT. 
worthies,  and  considered  as  the  peculiar  favourites  PA^*ir 

of  Heaven.     On  the  other  hand,  the  number  of 

those  who  were  studious  to  acquire  a  just  notion 
of  religious  matters,  to  investigate  the  true  sense 
of  the  sacred  writings,  and  to  model  their  lives 
and  manners  after  the  precepts  and  example  of 
the  Divine  Saviour,  was  extremely  small,  and  such 
had  much  difficulty  in  escaping  the  gibbet,  in  an 
age  where  virtue  and  sense  were  looked  upon  as 
heretical. 

II.  This  miserable  state  of  things,  this  enor-  Defenders 
mpus  perversion  of  religion  and  morality  through-  J^8*"18 
out  almost  all  the  western  provinces,  were  ob-  raised^by 
served  and  deplored  by  many  wise  and  good  men,  ?"" 
who  all  endeavoured,  though  in  different  ways,  places. 
to  stem  the  torrent  of  superstition,  and  to  re- 
form a  corrupt  church.  In  England  and  Scot- 
land, the  disciples  of  WicklifF,  whom  the  mul- 
titude had  stigmatized  with  the  odious  title  of 
Lollards,  continued  to  inveigh  against  the  de- 
spotic laws  of  the  pontiffs,  and  the  licentious  man- 
ners of  the  clergy  (w).  The  Waldenses,  though 
persecuted  and  oppressed  on  all  sides,  and  from 
every  quarter,  raised  their  voices  even  in  the 
remote  valleys  and  lurking  places  whither  they 
were  driven  by  the  violence  of  their  enemies,  and 
called  aloud  for  succour  to  the  expiring  cause  of 
religion  and  virtue.  Even  in  Italy,  many,  and 
among  others  the  famous  Savanarola,  had  the 
courage  to  declare,  that  Rome  was  become  the 
image  of  Babylon  ;  and  this  notion  was  soon 
adopted  by  multitudes  of  all  ranks  and  conditions. 
But  the  greatest  part  of  the  clergy  and  monks, 
persuaded  that  their  honours,  influence,  and 
riches  would  diminish  in  proportion  to  the  in- 
crease of  knowledge  among  the  people,  and  would 

(to)  See  Wilkins,  Concilia  Magnae  Britann.   et  Hibern. 
torn.  iv. — Wood,  Antiqq.  Ox  on.  torn.  i.  p.  202.  204- . 


446  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    receive  inexpressible  detriment  from  the  downfal 
PART  n   °^   superstition,   opposed,  with   all   their    might, 
every  thing  that  had  the  remotest  aspect  of  a  re- 
formation, and  imposed  silence  upon  these  impor- 
tunate censors  by  the  formidable  authority  of  fire 
and  sword. 

Commo-  in.  The  religious  dissensions  that  had  been 
hernia."  °"  excited  in  Bohemia  by  the  ministry  of  John  Huss 
and  his  disciple  Jacobellus  de  Misa  were  doubly 
inflamed  by  the  deplorable  fate  of  Huss  and  Je- 
rome of  Prague,  and  broke  out  into  an  open  war, 
which  was  carried  on  with  the  most  savage  and 
unparalleled  barbarity.  The  followers  of  Huss, 
who  pleaded  for  the  administration  of  the  cup  to 
the  laity  in  the  holy  sacrament,  being  persecuted 
and  oppressed  in  various  ways  by  the  emissaries 
and  ministers  of  the  court  of  Rome,  retired  to  a 
steep  and  high  mountain  in  the  district  of  Bechin, 
in  which  they  held  their  religious  meetings,  and 
administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
under  both  kinds.  This  mountain  they  called 
Tabor,  from  the  tents  which  they  at  first  erected 
there  for  their  habitation  ;  and  in  process  of  time 
they  raised  a  strong  fortification  for  its  defence, 
and  adorned  it  with  a  well-built  and  regular  city. 
Nor  did  they  stop  here  ;  but  forming  more  grand 
and  important  projects,  they  chose  for  their  chiefs 
Nicholas  of  Hussinet,  and  the  famous  John  Ziska, 
a  Bohemian  knight,  a  man  of  the  most  undaunted 
courage  and  resolution  ;  and  proposed,  under  the 
standards  of  these  valiant  leaders,  to  revenge  the 
death  of  Huss  and  Jerome  upon  the  creatures  of 
the  Roman  pontiff,  and  obtain  a  liberty  of  wor- 
shipping God  in  a  more  rational  manner  than 
that  which  was  prescribed  by  the  church  of  Rome. 
After  the  death  of  Nicholas,  which  happened  in 
the  year  1420,  Ziska  commanded  alone  this  war- 
like body,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  his  army 
increase  from  day  to  day.  During  the  first  tu- 


Rasa. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  447 

mults  of  this  war,  which  were  no  more  than  a    CENT. 
prelude  to   calamities  of  a  much  more  dreadful  PA^'ni 

kind,  Wenceslaus,  king  of  Bohemia,  departed  this 

life  in  the  year  1419  (,r). 

IV.    The  emperor  Sigismund,  who  succeeded The  Hussite 

,..,,  /»  T*    i  •  i  i  l      war  carried 

him  in  the  throne  of  Bohemia,  employed,  not  only  on  b 
edicts  and  remonstrances,  but  also  the  terror  of and 
penal  laws,  and  the  force  of  arms  to  put  an  end 
to  these  lamentable  divisions  ;  and  great  numbers 
of  the  Hussites  perished,  by  his  orders,  in  the 
most  barbarous  manner.  The  Bohemians,  irri- 
tated by  these  inhuman  proceedings,  threw  off 
his  despotic  yoke  in  the  year  1420,  and,  with 
Ziska  at  their  head,  made  war  against  their  sove- 
reign. This  famous  leader,  though  deprived  of 
his  sight,  discovered,  in  every  step  he  took,  such 
an  admirable  mixture  of  prudence  and  intrepi- 
dity, that  his  name  became  a  terror  to  his  ene- 
mies. Upon  his  death,  which  happened  in  the 
year  1424,  the  plurality  of  the  Hussites  chose  for 
their  general  Procopius  Rasa,  a  man  also  of  un- 
daunted courage  and  resolution,  who  maintained 
their  cause,  and  carried  on  the  war  with  spirit 
and  success.  The  acts  of  barbarity  that  were 
committed  on  both  sides  were  shocking  and  ter- 
rible beyond  expression  ;  for,  notwithstanding  the 
irreconcileable  opposition  that  there  was  between 
the  religious  sentiments  of  the  contending  parties, 
they  both  agreed  in  this  one  horrible  point,  that 
it  was  innocent  and  lawful  to  persecute  and  extir- 
pate with  fire  and  sword  the  enemies  of  the  true 


r)  This  prince  had  no  sooner  begun  to  execute 
the  decrees  of  the  council  of  Constance  against  the  Huss- 
ites than  the  inhabitants  of  Prague  took  fire  at  this  pro- 
ceeding, raised  a  tumult,  murdered  the  magistrates  who 
published  the  order,  and  committed  other  outrages  which 
filled  the  court  of  Wenceslaus  with  consternation,  and  so 
affected  that  pusillanimous  monarch,  that  he  was  seized  with 
an  apoplexy,  of  which  he  died  in  a  few  days. 


448  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  religion,  and  such  they  reciprocally  appeared  to 
PART'H.  ^e  ^n  eacn  other's  eyes.  The  Bohemians  main- 
tained,  that  Huss  had  been  unjustly  put  to  death 
at  Constance,  and  consequently  revenged,  with 
the  utmost  fury,  the  injury  that  had  been  done 
him.  They  acknowledged  it,  nevertheless,  as  an 
incontestable  principle,  that  heretics  were  worthy 
of  capital  punishment  ;  but  they  denied  obsti- 
nately that  Huss  was  a  heretic.  This  pernicious 
maxim,  then,  was  the  source  of  that  cruelty  that 
dishonoured  the  exploits  of  both  the  parties  in 
this  dreadful  war  ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  difficult  to 
determine  wrhich  of  the  two  carried  this  cruelty 
to  the  greatest  height. 


The  Caiix-  V.  All  those  who  undertook  to  avenge  the 
death  of  the  Bohemian  martyr  set  out  upon  the 
same  principles;  and,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war,  they  seemed  to  agree  both  in  their  reli- 
gious sentiments  and  in  their  demands  upon  the 
church  and  government  from  which  they  had 
withdrawn  themselves.  But  as  their  numbers 
increased,  their  union  diminished  ;  and  their  army 
being  prodigiously  augmented  by  a  confluence  of 
strangers  from  all  quarters,  a  great  dissension 
arose  among  them,  which  in  the  year  1420  came 
to  an  open  rupture,  and  divided  this  multitude 
into  two  great  factions,  which  were  distinguished 
by  the  titles  of  Calixtines  and  Taborites.  The 
former,  who  were  so  called  from  their  insisting 
upon  the  use  of  the  cup,  or  chalice,  in  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  eucharist,  were  mild  in  their  proceed- 
ings, and  modest  in  their  demands,  and  showed  no 
disposition  to  overturn  the  ancient  system  of  church- 
government,  or  to  make  any  considerable  changes 
in  the  religion  that  was  publicly  received.  All 
that  they  required  may  be  comprehended  under 
the  four  articles  which  follow.  They  demanded, 
first,  that  the  word  of  God  should  be  explained  to 
the  people  in  a  plain  and  perspicuous  manner, 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  449 

without  the  mixture  of  superstitious  comments  or  CENT. 
inventions  ;  secondly,  that  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  in  both 
kinds ;  thirdly,  that  the  clergy,  instead  of  em- 
ploying all  their  attention  and  zeal  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  riches  and  power,  should  turn  their 
thoughts  to  objects  more  suitable  to  their  profes- 
sion, and  be  ambitious  of  living  and  acting  as  be- 
came the  successors  of  the  holy  apostles  ;  and, 
fourthly,  that  transgressions  of  a  more  heinous 
kind,  or  mortal  sins,  should  be  punished  in  a  man- 
ner suitable  to  their  enormity.  In  this  great  fac- 
tion, however,  there  were  some  subordinate  sects, 
who  were  divided  upon  several  points.  The  admi- 
nistration of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  one  occasion 
of  dispute.  Jacobellus  de  Misa,  who  had  first  pro- 
posed the  celebration  of  that  ordinance  under  both 
kinds,  was  of  opinion,  that  infants  had  a  right  to 
partake  of  it,  and  this  opinion  was  adopted  by 
many ;  while  others  maintained  the  contrary  doc- 
trine, and  confined  the  privilege  in  question  to 
persons  of  riper  years  ( ?/). 

VI.  The  demands  of  the  Taborites,  who  de- 
rived their  name  from  a  mountain  well  known  in 
sacred  history,  were  much  more  ample.  They  not 
only  insisted  upon  reducing  the  religion  of  Jesus 
to  its  primitive  simplicity  ;  but  required  also  that 
the  system  of  ecclesiastical  government  should  be 
reformed  in  the  same  manner,  the  authority  of 
the  pope  destroyed,  the  form  of  divine  worship 
changed :  they  demanded,  in  a  word,  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  church,  a  new  hierarchy,  in  which 
Christ  alone  should  reign,  and  all  things  should 
be  carried  on  by  a  divine  direction  and  impulse. 
In  maintaining  these  extravagant  demands,  the 
principal  doctors  among  the  Taborites,  such  as 
Martin  Loquis,  a  Moravian,  and  his  followers, 
went  so  far  as  to  flatter  themselves  with  the  chi- 

(#)  Byzinii  Dianum  Hussiticum.  p.  130. 
VOL.  III.  G  G 


450  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    merical   notion,    that    Christ   would   descend   in 
xv*      person  upon  earth,  armed  with  fire  and  sword,  to 

1  extirpate  heresy,  and  purify  the  church  from  its 

multiplied  corruptions.  These  fanatical  dreams 
they  propagated  every  where,  and  taught  them 
even  in  a  public  manner  with  unparalleled  con- 
fidence and  presumption.  It  is  this  enthusiastic 
class  of  the  Hussites  alone,  that  we  are  to  look 
upon  as  accountable  for  all  those  abominable  acts 
of  violence,  rapine,  desolation,  and  murder,  which 
are  too  indiscriminately  laid  to  the  charge  of  the 
Hussites  in  general,  and  to  their  two  leaders 
Ziska  and  Procopius  in  particular  (z).  It  must 
indeed  be  acknowledged,  that  a  great  part  of 
the  Hussites  had  imbibed  the  most  barbarous 
sentiments  with  respect  to  the  obligation  of  exe- 

(z)  From  the  following  opinions  and  maxims  of  the  Ta- 
borites,  which  may  be  seen  in  the  Diarium  Hussiticum  of 
Byzinius,  we  may  form  a  just  idea  of  their  detestable  barba- 
rity :  "  Omnes  legis  Christi  adversarii  debent  puniri  septem 
plagis  novissimis,  ad  quarum  executionem  fideles  sunt  pro- 
vocandi. — In  isto  tempore  ultionis  Christus  in  sua  humilitate 
et  miseratione  non  est  imitandus  ad  ipsos  peccatores,  sed  in 
zelo  et  furore  et  justa  retributione.  In  hoc  tempore  ultionis, 
quilibet  fidelis,  etiam  presbyter,  quantumcunque  spiritualis, 
est  maledictus,  qui  gladium  suum  corporalem  prohibet  a  san- 
guine adversariorum  legis  Christi.  sed  debet  manus  suas 
lavare  in  eorum  sanguine  et  sanctificare."  From  men,  who 
adopted  such  horrid  and  detestable  maxims,  what  could  be 
expected  but  the  most  abominable  acts  of  injustice  and 
cruelty  ?  For  an  account  of  this  dreadful  and  calamitous 
war,  the  reader  may  consult  (besides  the  ancient  writers, 
such  as  Sylvius,  Theobaldus,  Cochlseus,  and  others)  Len- 
fant,  Histoire  de  la  Guerre  des  Hussites,  which  was  published 
at  Amsterdam,  in  two  volumes,  in  4to,  in  the  year  173] .  To 
this  history  it  will,  however,  be  advisable  to  add  the  Diarium 
Belli  Hussitici  of  Byzinius,  a  book  worthy  of  the  highest 
esteem,  on  account  of  the  candour  and  impartiality  with 
which  it  is  composed,  and  which  Mr.  Lenfant  does  not  seem 
to  have  consulted.  This  valuable  production  has  been  pub- 
lished, though  incomplete,  in  the  sixth  volume  of  the  Reli- 
quiae Manuscriptorum  of  the  very  learned  John  Peter  Lud- 
wig.  See  also  Beausobre's  Supplement  to  the  Histoire  de 
la  Guerre  des  Hussites,  Lausanne,  1745,  in  4to. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  451 

cuting    vengeance   upon    their   enemies,   against    CENT. 
whom  they  breathed  nothing  but  bloodshed  and 
fury,  without  any  mixture  of  humanity  or  com- 
passion. 

VII.  In  the  year  1433,  the  council  of  Basil  The  com- 
endeavoured  to  put  an  end  to  this  dreadful  war,  SoSa'" 
and  for  that  purpose  invited  the  Bohemians  to  terminated. 
their  assembly.  The  Bohemians  accepting  this 
invitation,  sent  ambassadors,  and  among  others 
Procopius  their  leader,  to  represent  them  in  that 
council.  But,  after  many  warm  debates,  these 
messengers  of  peace  returned  without  having  ef- 
fected any  thing  that  might  even  prepare  the  way 
for  a  reconciliation  so  long  and  so  ardently  de- 
sired. The  Calixtines  were  not  averse  to  peace ; 
but  no  methods  of  persuasion  could  engage  the 
Taborites  to  yield.  This  matter,  however,  was 
transacted  with  more  success  by  ^Eneas  Sylvius 
and  others,  whom  the  council  sent  into  Bohemia 
to  renew  the  conferences.  For  these  new  legates, 
by  allowing  the  Calixtines  the  use  of  the  cup  in 
the  holy  sacrament,  satisfied  them  in  the  point 
which  they  had  chiefly  at  heart,  and  thereby  re- 
conciled them  with  the  Roman  pontiff.  But  the 
Taborites  remained  firm,  adhered  inflexibly  to 
their  first  principles  ;  and  neither  the  artifice  nor 
eloquence  of  Sylvius,  nor  the  threats,  sufferings, 
and  persecutions  to  which  their  cause  exposed 
them,  could  vanquish  their  obstinate  perseverance 
in  it.  From  this  period,  indeed,  they  began  to 
review  their  religious  tenets,  and  their  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline,  with  a  design  to  render  them  more 
perfect.  This  review,  as  it  was  executed  with 
great  prudence  and  impartiality,  produced  a  very 
good  effect,  and  gave  a  rational  aspect  to  the  reli- 
gion of  this  sect,  who  withdrew  themselves  from 
the  war,  abandoned  the  ^doctrines,  which,  upon 
serious  examination,  they  found  to  be  inconsistent 
with  the  spirit  and  genius  of  the  gospel,  and  ba- 

G  G  2 


PART  II. 


tutors. 


152  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  nished  from  their  communion  all  those  whose  dis- 
ordered brains,  or  licentious  manners,  might  ex- 
pose them  to  reproach  (#).  The  Taborites,  thus 
new-modelled,  were  the  same  with  those  Bohe- 
mian Brethren  (or  Picards,  i.  e.  Beghards,  as 
their  adversaries  called  them)  who  joined  Luther 
and  his  successors  at  the  Reformation,  and  of  whom 
there  are  at  this  day  many  of  the  descendants  and 
followers  in  Poland,  and  other  countries. 

VIII.  Among  the  greatest  part  of  the  inter- 
preters of  scripture  that  lived  in  this  century,  we 
find  nothing  worthy  of  applause,  if  we  except 
their  zeal  and  their  good  intentions.  Such  of 
them  as  aimed  at  something  higher  than  the  cha- 
racter of  bare  compilers,  and  ventured  to  draw 
their  explications  from  their  own  sense  of  things, 
did  little  more  than  amuse,  or  rather  delude, 
their  readers,  with  mystical  and  allegorical  fancies. 
At  the  head  of  this  class  of  writers  is  Alphon- 
sus  Tostatus,  bishop  of  Avila,  whose  voluminous 
commentaries  upon  the  sacred  writings  exhibit 
nothing  remarkable  but  their  enormous  bulk. 
Laurentius  Valla  is  entitled  to  a  more  favourable 
judgment,  and  his  small  collection  of  Critical  and 
Grammatical  Annotations  upon  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  far  from  being  destitute  of  merit,  since  it 
pointed  out  to  succeeding  authors,  the  true  me- 
thod of  removing  the  difficulties  that  sometimes 
present  themselves  to  such  as  study  with  attention 
the  divine  oracles.  It  is  proper  to  observe  here, 
that  these  sacred  books  were,  in  almost  all  the 
kingdoms  and  states  of  Europe,  translated  into 
the  language  of  each  respective  people,  particu- 

(«)  See  Adriani  Regenvolschii  Historia  Eccles.  Provinciar. 
Sclavonicar.  lib.  ii.  cap.  viii.  p.  165. — Joach.  Camerarii  Hi- 
storica  Narratio  de  Fratrum  Ecctesiis  in  Bohemia,  Moravia,  et 
Polonia,  Heidelb.  1605,  in  4to. — Jo.  Lasitii  Historia  Fratrum 
Bohemicorum,  which  I  possess  in  manuscript,  and  of  which 
the  eighth  book  was  published  in  8vo,  at  Amsterdam,  in  the 
year  1(349. 


CHAP.  in.      The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  453 

larly  in  Germany,   Italy,   France,    and    Britain.    CENT. 
This  circumstance  naturally  excited  the  expecta-  p^^'n 
tions  of  a  considerable  change  in  the  state  of  reli- 
gion,  and  made  the  thinking  few  hope,  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  church  would  be  soon  Reformed  by 
the  light  that  could  not  but  arise  from  consulting 
the  genuine  sources  of  divine  truth. 

IX.  The  schools  of  divinity  made  a  miser-  The  scho- 
able  figure  in  this  century.  They  were  filled  with  ]va.^  ^ 
teachers,  who  loaded  their  memory,  and  that  of  moralists 
their  disciples,  with  unintelligible  distinctions  and 
unmeaning  sounds,  that  they  might  thus  dispute 
and  discourse  with  an  appearance  of  method,  upon 
matters  which  they  did  not  understand.  There 
were  now  few  remaining  of  those  who  proved 
and  illustrated  the  doctrines  of  religion  by  the 
positive  declarations  of  the  holy  scriptures,  and 
the  sentiments  of  the  ancient  fathers,  and  who, 
with  all  their  defects,  were  much  superior  to  the 
vain  and  obscure  pedants  of  whom  we  now  speak. 
The  senseless  jargon  of  the  latter  did  not  escape 
the  just  and  heavy  censure  of  some  learned  and 
judicious  persons,  who  looked  upon  their  method 
of  teaching  as  highly  detrimental  to  the  interests 
of  true  religion,  and  to  the  advancement  of 
genuine  and  solid  piety.  Accordingly,  various 
plans  were  formed  by  different  persons,  some  of 
which  had  for  their  object  the  abolition  of  this  me- 
thod, others  its  reformation,  while,  in  the  mean- 
time, the  enemies  of  the  schoolmen  increased  from 
day  to  day.  The  Mystics,  of  whom  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  more  largely  hereafter,  were 
ardently  bent  upon  banishing  entirely  this,  scho- 
lastic theology  out  of  the  Christian  church. 
Others,  who  seemed  disposed  to  treat  matters 
with  more  moderation,  did  not  insist  upon  its 
total  suppression,  but  were  of  opinion,  that  it  was 
necessary  to  reform  it,  by  abolishing  all  vain  and 
useless  subjects  of  debate,  by  restraining  the  rage 


454  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,  of  disputing  that  had  infected  the  seminaries  of 
'  theology,  and  by  seasoning  the  subtilty  of  the 
schoolmen  with  a  happy  temperature  of  mystic 
sensibility  and  simplicity.  This  opinion  was 
adopted  by  the  famous  Gerson,  who  laboured 
with  the  utmost  zeal  and  assiduity  in  correcting 
and  reforming  the  disorders  and  abuses  that  the 
scholastic  divines  had  introduced  into  the  semi- 
naries (#),  as  also  by  Savanarola,  Petrus  de  Al- 
liaco,  and  Nicholas  Cusanus,  whose  treatise  con- 
cerning Learned  Ignorance  is  still  extant. 


PH"h°lPre!.y  ^*  ^e  litigious  ner^  °f  schoolmen  found  a 
storers  of  new  class  of  enemies  equally  keen  in  the  restorers 
ture  anaera"  °^  el°<luence  an^  letters,  who  were  not  all,  how- 
ever,  of  the  same  opinion  with  respect  to  the  man- 
ner of  treating  these  solemn  quibblers.  Some 
of  them  covered  with  ridicule,  and  loaded  with 
invectives,  the  scholastic  doctrine,  and  demanded 
its  suppression,  as  a  most  trifling  and  absurd 
system,  that  was  highly  detrimental  to  the  culture 
and  improvement  of  the  mind,  and  every  way 
proper  to  prevent  the  growth  of  genius  and  true 
science.  Others  looked  upon  this  system  as  sup- 
portable, and  only  proposed  illustrating  and  po- 
lishing it  by  the  powers  of  eloquence,  thus  to 
render  it  more  intelligible  and  elegant.  Of  this 
class  was  Paulus  Cortesius,  who  wrote,  with  this 
view,  a  commentary  on  the  Book  of  Proverbs, 
in  which,  as  we  learn  from  himself,  he  forms  a 
happy  union  between  eloquence  and  theology,  and 
clothes  the  principal  intricacies  of  scholastic  divi- 
nity with  the  graces  of  an  agreeable  and  perspi- 
cuous style  (c).  But,  after  all,  the  scholastic 

(b)  Rich.  Simon,  Lettres  Choisies,  torn.  ii.  p.  269.  and 
Critique  de  la  Bibliotheque  Ecclesiastique,  M.  Du  Pin,  torn. 
i.  p.  491.  —  Thomasii  Origines   Histor.   Philos.  p.  56.  and 
principally   Gersonis  Methodus   Theologiam  Studendi,    in 
Launoii  Historia  Gymnas.  Navarreni,  torn.  iv.  opp.  part.  I.  p. 
330. 

(c)  This  work  was  published  in  folio  at  Rome,  in  the  year 
1512,  and  at  Basil,  in  1513. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  455 

theology,   supported  by  the  extraordinary  credit    CENT. 
and  authority  of  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans,   PART  *n 

maintained    its   ground   against    its    various    op 

posers,  nor  could  these  two  religious  orders,  who 
excelled  in  that  litigious  kind  of  learning,  bear  the 
thoughts  of  losing  the  glory  they  had  acquired  by 
quibbling  and  disputing  in  the  pompous  jargon  of 
the  schools. 

XL  This  vain  philosophy,  however,  grew  daily  And  also 
more  contemptible  in  the  esteem  of  the  judicious 
and  the  wise,  while  at  the  same  time  the  Mystics 
gathered  strength,  and  saw  their  friends  and 
abettors  multiply  on  all  sides.  Among  these  there 
were,  indeed,  certain  men  of  distinguished  merit, 
who  are  chargeable  with  few  of  the  errors  and 
extravagances  that  were  mingled  with  the  disci- 
pline and  doctrine  of  that  famous  sect,  such  as 
Thomas  a  Kempis,  the  author  of  the  Germanic 
theology,  so  highly  commended  by  Luther,  Lau- 
rentius,  Justinianus,  Savanarola,  and  others. 
There  are,  on  the  other  hand,  some  writers  of 
this  sect,  such  as  Vincentius  Ferrerius,  Henricus 
Harphius,  and  Bernhard  Senensis,  in  whose  produc- 
tions we  must  carefully  separate  certain  notions 
which  were  the  effects  of  a  warm  and  irregular 
fancy,  as  also  the  visions  of  Dionysius,  whom 
the  Mystics  consider  as  their  chief,  from  the 
noble  precepts  of  divine  wisdom  with  which  they 
are  mingled.  The  Mystics  were  defended  against 
their  adversaries,  the  Dialecticians,  partly  by 
the  Platonics,  who  were  every  where  held  in  high 
esteem,  and  partly  by  some,  even  of  the  most 
eminent  scholastic  doctors.  The  former  consi- 
dered Dionysius  as  a  person  whose  sentiments 
had  been  formed  and  nourished  by  the  study  of 
Platonism,  and  wrote  commentaries  upon  his 
writings ;  of  which  we  have  an  eminent  ex- 
ample in  Marcilius  Ficinus,  whose  name  adds 
a  lustre  to  the  Platonic  school.  The  latter 


456  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    attempted  a  certain  sort  of  association  between  the 
LV''      scholastic  theology  and  that  of  the  Mystics  ;  and, 

'_  in  this  class,  were  John  Gerson,  Nicholas  Cusanus, 

Dionysius  the  Carthusian,  and  others. 
The  state  XII.  The  controversy  with  the  enemies  of 
orcoIftTo!  Christianity  was  carried  on  with  much  more 
versiai  di-  vigour  in  this  than  in  the  preceding  ages,  and 
several  learned  and  eminent  men  seemed  now  to 
exert  themselves  with  peculiar"  industry  and  zeal 
in  demonstrating  the  truth  of  that  divine  religion, 
and  defending  it  against  the  various  objections  of 
its  adversaries.  This  appears  from  the  learned  book 
of  Marcilius  Ficinus,  Concerning  the  Truth  of 
Christianity,  Savanarola's  Triumph  of  the  Cross, 
the  Natural  Theology  of  Raymund  de  Sabunde, 
and  other  productions  of  a  like  nature.  The 
Jews  were  refuted  by  Perezius  and  Jerome  de  St. 
Foi,  the  Saracens  by  Johannes  de  Turrecremata, 
and  both  these  classes  of  unbelievers  were  opposed 
by  Alphonsus  de  Spina,  in  his  work,  entitled, 
The  Fortress  of  Faith.  Nor  were  these  pious 
labours  in  the  defence  of  the  Gospel  at  all  unsea- 
sonable or  superfluous  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  state 
of  things  at  this  time  rendered  them  necessary. 
For,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Aristotelian  philoso- 
phers in  Italy  seemed,  in  their  public  instructions, 
to  strike  at  the  foundations  of  all  religion  :  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  senseless  subtilties  and 
quarrels  of  the  schoolmen,  who  modelled  religion 
according  to  their  extravagant  fancies,  tended  to 
bring  it  into  contempt.  Add  to  all  this,  that 
the  Jews  and  Saracens  lived  in  many  places  pro- 
miscuously with  the  Christians,  who  were  there- 
fore obliged,  by  the  proximity  of  the  enemy,  to 
defend  themselves  with  the  utmost  assiduity  and 
zeal. 

The  schism  XIII.  We  have  already  taken  notice  of  the 
theLatins  fruitless  attempts  that  had  been  made  to  heal  the 
and  Greeks  unhappy  divisions  that  separated  the  Greek  and 

healed. 


CHAP.  in.     The  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  457 

Latin  churches.     After  the  council  of  Florence,    CENT. 

xv. 

PART  II. 


and  the  violation  of  the  treaty  of  pacification  by 


the  Greeks,  Nicolas  V.  exhorted  and  entreated 
them  again  to  turn  their  thoughts  towards  the 
restoration  of  peace  and  concord.  But  his  ex- 
hortations were  without  effect ;  and  in  about  the 
space  of  three  years  after  the  writing  of  this  last 
letter,  Constantinople  was  besieged  and  taken  by 
the  Turks.  And  from  that  fatal  period  to  the 
present  time,  the  Roman  pontiffs,  in  all  their 
attempts  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  have 
always  found  the  Grecian  patriarchs  more  obstinate 
and  intractable  than  they  were  when  their  em- 
pire was  in  a  flourishing  state.  Nor  is  this  circum- 
stance so  difficult  to  be  accounted  for,  when  all 
things  are  duly  considered.  This  obstinacy  was 
the  effect  of  a  rooted  aversion  to  the  Latins  and 
their  pontiffs,  that  acquired  from  day  to  day,  new 
degrees  of  strength  and  bitterness  in  the  hearts  of 
the  Greeks  ;  an  aversion,  produced  and  nourished 
by  a  persuasion,  that  the  calamities  they  suffered 
under  the  Turkish  yoke  might  have  been  easily 
removed,  if  the  western  princes  and  the  Roman 
pontiffs  had  not  refused  to  succour  them  against 
their  haughty  tyrants.  And  accordingly,  when 
the  Greek  writers  deplore  the  calamities  that  fell 
upon  their  devoted  country,  their  complaints  are 
always  mingled  with  heavy  accusations  against 
the  Latins,  whose  cruel  insensibility  to  their  un- 
happy situation  they  paint  in  the  strongest  and 
most  odious  colours. 

XIV.  We  pass  over  in  silence  many  trifling  The  intes- 
controversies  among  the  Latins,  which  have  no  '-"^j^ 
sort  of  claim  to  the  attention  of  our  readers.     But  contests  of 
we  must  not  omit  mentioning  the  revival  of  that the  Latins* 
famous   dispute  concerning  the  kind  of  worship 
that  was   to   be   paid    to   the   blood   of    Christ, 
which  was  first  kindled  at  Barcelona,  in  the  year 
1351,  between  the  Franciscans  and  Dominicans, 


PART  i. 


458  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    and  had  been  left  undecided  by  Clement  VI. 

^h*s  controversy  was  now  renewed  at  Brixen,  in 
the  year  1462,  by  Jacobus  a  Marchia,  a  celebrated 
Franciscan,  who  maintained  publicly,  in  one  of 
his  sermons,  that  the  blood  which  Christ  shed 
upon  the  cross  did  not  belong  to  the  divine  na- 
ture, and  of  consequence  was  not  to  be  considered 
as  an  object  of  divine  and  immediate  worship. 
The  Dominicans  rejected  this  doctrine  ;  and 
adopted  with  such  zeal  the  opposite  side  of  the 
question,  that  James  of  Brixen,  who  performed 
the  office  of  inquisitor,  called  the  Franciscan  be- 
fore his  tribunal,  and  accused  him  of  heresy.  The 
Roman  pontiff  Pius  II.  having  made  several  ineffec- 
tual attempts  to  suppress  this  controversy,  was  at 
last  persuaded  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  exa- 
mination and  judgment  of  a  select  number  of  able 
divines.  But  many  obstacles  arose  to  prevent  a 
final  decision,  among  which  we  may  reckon  as  the 
principal,  the  influence  and  authority  of  the  con- 
tending orders,  each  of  which  had  embarked  with 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  their  respective  champions. 
Hence,  after  much  altercation  and  chicane,  the 
pontiff  thought  proper  to  impose  silence  on  both 
the  parties  in  this  miserable  dispute,  in  the  year 
1464-  ;  declaring,  at  the  same  time,  that  "  both 
"  sides  of  the  question  might  be  lawfully  held, 
"  until  Christ's  vicar  upon  earth  should  find  lei- 
"  sure  and  opportunity  for  examining  the  matter, 
"  and  determining  on  what  side  the  truth  lay." 
This  leisure  and  opportunity  have  not  as  yet  been 
offered  to  the  pontiffs  (e). 

(d)  Luc.  Waddingi  Annal.  Minor,  torn.  viii.  p.  58.  —  Jac. 
Echardi  Scriptor.  Praedicator.  torn.  i.  p.  650. 

(e)  Waddingi   Annal.    Minor,  torn,   xiii,    p.  206.  —  Nat. 
Alexander,  Hist.  Eccles.  Saec.  xv.  p.  17. 


CHAP.  iv.       Rites  and  Ceremonies.  459 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Concerning  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  that  were 
used  in  the  Church  during  this  Century. 


I.  THE  state  of  religious  ceremonies  among  the    CENT. 
Greeks  may  be  learned  from  the  book  of  Simeon  of 
Thessalonica,  concerning  Rites  and  Heresies 


from  which  it  appears,  that  the  substance  of  reli-  Rit^of  the 
gion  was  lost  among  that  people  ;  that  a  splendid  church. 
shadow  of  pomp  and  vanity  was  substituted  in  its 
place  by  the  rulers  of  the  church ;  and  that  all 
the  branches  of  divine  worship  were  ordered  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  strike  the  imaginations,  and 
captivate  the  senses,  of  the  multitude.  They 
pretended,  indeed,  to  allege  several  reasons  for 
multiplying,  as  they  did,  the  external  rites  and 
institutions  of  religion ;  and  casting  over  the 
whole  of  divine  worship  such  a  pompous  garb  of 
worldly  splendour.  But  in  these  reasons,  and  in 
all  the  explications  they  give  of  this  gaudy  ritual, 
there  is  much  subtilty  and  invention,  without  the 
least  appearance  of  truth  or  good  sense  to  render 
them  plausible.  The  origin  of  these  multiplied 
rites,  that  cast  a  cloud  over  the  native  beauty  and 
lustre  of  religion,  is  often  obscure,  and  frequently 
dishonourable.  .  And  such  as,  by  force  of  ill-applied 
genius,  and  invention,  have  endeavoured  to  derive 
honour  to  these  ceremonies  from  the  circumstances 
that  gave  occasion  to  them,  have  failed  egregiously 
in  this  desperate  attempt.  The  deceit  is  too  pal- 
pable to  seduce  any  mind  that  is  void  of  prejudice, 
and  capable  of  attention. 

(/)  J.  A.  Fabricius  gives  us  an  account  of  the  contents  of 
this  book  in  his  Biblioth.  Graeca,  vol.  xiv.  p.  5i. 


460  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.        II.  Though  the  more  rational  and  judicious  of 
*y*|     the  Roman  pontiffs  complained  of  the  overgrown 

Jr  A  xv  1.     1 1  •  _.  _  •*•  _  •/"»•!  i 

multitude   of    ceremonies,  festivals,  temples,  and 

Rites  in-  the  like,  and  did  not  seem  unwilling  to  have  this 
theLatiii  enormous  mass  somewhat  diminished,  they  never- 
church,  theless  distinguished,  every  one  his  own  pontificate, 
by  some  new  institution,  and  thought  it  their  duty 
to  perpetuate  their  fame  by  some  new  edict  of  this 
nature.  Thus  Calixtus  III.  to  immortalize  the 
remembrance  of  the  deliverance  of  Belgrade  from 
the  victorious  arms  of  Mahomet  II.  who  had  been 
obliged  to  raise  the  siege  of  that  city,  ordered, 
in  the  year  1456,  the  festival  in  honour  of  the 
Transfiguration  of  Christ  (which  had  been  cele- 
brated in  some  places  by  private  authority  before 
this  period)  to  be  religiously  observed  throughout 
all  the  western  world.  And  Sixtus  IV.  in  the 
year  1476,  granted  Indulgences,  by  an  express 
and  particular  edict,  to  all  those  who  should 
devoutly  celebrate  an  annual  festival  in  honour 
of  the  immaculate  conception  of  the  blessed 
Virgin,  with  respect  to  which  none  of  the  Roman 
pontiffs  before  him  had  thought  proper  to  make 
any  express  declaration  or  any  positive  appoint- 
ment (£*).  The  other  additions  that  were  made  to 
the  Roman  ritual,  relating  to  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  public  and  private  prayers,  the 
traffic  of  Indulgences,  and  other  things  of  that 
nature,  are  of  too  little  importance  to  deserve  an 
exact  and  circumstantial  enumeration.  We  need 
not  such  a  particular  detail  to  convince  us,  that 
in  this  century  religion  was  reduced  to  mere  show, 
to  a  show  composed  of  pompous  absurdities  and 
splendid  trifles. 

(g)  See  Raph.  Volaterrani  Comment.  Urbani,  lib.  viii.  p. 
289. — ^Eneas  Sylvius,  De  Statu  Europae  sub  Frederico  III. 
cap.  x.  in  Freheri  Scriptor.  Rerum  Germanicar.  torn.  ii.  p. 
104. 


CHAP.  v.       Divisions  and  Heresies.  461 


CHAPTER  V. 

Concerning  the  Heresies,  Sects,  and  Divisions ,  that 
troubled  the  Church  during  this  Century. 

I.  NEITHER  the  severe  edicts  of  the  pontiffs    CENT. 
and  emperors,  nor  the  barbarity  and  vigilance  of     xv< 

i  i  •  •    S  11  ,  •  ,1         PART  II 

the  unrelenting  inquisitors,   could   extirpate  the 

remains  of  the  ancient  heresies,  or  prevent  the  Manichae- 
rise  of  new  sects.  We  have  already  seen  the  *ns 
Franciscan  order  at  open  war  with  the  church  of 
Rome.  In  Bosnia,  and  the  adjacent  countries, 
the  Manichaeans,  or  Paulicians,  who  were  the 
same  with  the  sect  named  in  Italy  Catharists, 
propagated  their  doctrines  with  confidence,  and 
held  their  religious  assemblies  with  impunity.  It 
is  true,  indeed,  that  the  great  protector  of  the 
Manichaeans,  Stephen  Thomascus,  king  of  Bosnia, 
abjured  their  errors,  received  baptism  by  the  mi- 
nistry of  John  Carvaialus,  a  Roman  cardinal,  and, 
in  consequence  thereof,  expelled  these  heretics 
out  of  his  dominions.  But  it  is  also  certain,  that 
he  afterwards  changed  his  mind ;  and  it  is  well 
known,  that  towards  the  conclusion  of  this  cen- 
tury, the  Manichaeans  inhabited  Bosnia,  Servia, 
and  the  neighbouring  provinces.  The  Waldenses 
also  still  subsisted  in  several  European  provinces, 
more  especially  in  Pomerania,  Brandenburg,  the 
district  of  Magdeburg  and  Thuringia,  where  they 
had  a  considerable  number  of  friends  and  fol- 
lowers. It  appears,  however,  by  authentic  records, 
which  are  not  yet  published,  that  a  great  part  of 
the  adherents  of  this  unfortunate  sect  in  the 
countries  now  mentioned,  were  discovered  by  the 
inquisitors,  and  delivered  over  by  them  to  the 
civil  magistrates,  who  committed  them  to  the 
flames. 


462  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

II.  The  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit 
(who  were  called  in  Germany,  Beghards,-  or 
Schwestriones,  and  in  France,  Turelupins,  and 


PART  II. 


Beghards,    whose  distinctive  character  was  a  species  of  mysti- 

Schwestn-        .  _i,i         i  i  r  \  •»  T     i       J     • 

ones,  Pi-  cism  that  bordered  upon  frenzy)  wandered  about  in 
Adamites'1  a  secre^  an<^  disguised  manner  in  several  parts  of 
France,  Germany,  and  Flanders,  and  particularly 
in  Swabia  and  Switzerland,  where  they  spread  the 
contagion  of  their  enthusiasm,  and  caught  the  un- 
wary in  their  snares.  The  search,  however,  that 
was  made  after  them  was  so  strict  and  well-con- 
ducted, that  few  of  the  teachers  and  chiefs  of  this 
fanatical  sect  escaped  the  hands  of  the  inquisi- 
tors (Ji).  When  the  war  between  the  Hussites 
and  the  votaries  of  Rome  broke  out  in  Bohemia, 
in  the  year  1418,  a  troop  of  these  fanatics,  with  a 
person  at  their  head,  whose  name  was  John, 
repaired  thither,  and  held  secret  assemblies,  first 
at  Prague,  and  afterwards  in  different  places, 
from  whence  they,  at  length,  retired  to  a  certain 
island,  where  they  were  less  exposed  to  the  notice 
of  their  enemies.  It  was,  as  we  have  already  had 
occasion  to  observe,  one  of  the  leading  principles 
of  this  sect,  that  the  tender  instincts  of  nature, 
with  that  bashfulness  and  modesty  that  generally 
accompany  them,  were  evident  marks  of  inherent 
corruption,  and  showed  that  the  mind  was  not 

(h)  Felix  Malleolus  (whose  German  name  is  Haemmerlein) 
in  his  account  of  the  Lollards,  which  is  subjoined  to  his  book 
Contra  validos  Mendicantes,  i.  e.  against  the  sturdy  Beggars, 
Oper.  plag.  c.  2.  a.  has  given  us  a  list,  though  a  very  imperfect 
one,  of  the  Beghards  that  were  committed  to  the  flames  in 
Switzerland  and  the  adjacent  countries  during  this  century. 
This  author,  in  his  books  against  the  Beghards  and  Lollards, 
has  (either  through  design,  or  by  a  mistake  founded  on  the 
ambiguity  of  the  terms)  confounded  together  three  different 
classes  of  persons,  who  were  usually  known  by  the  appellation 
of  Beghards  and  Lollards;  as,  1st,  the  Tertiaries,  or  third 
order  of  the  more  austere  Franciscans  ;  2dly,  the  Brethren 
of  the  Free  Spirit ;  and,  3dly,  the  Cellite  or  Alexian  friars. 
Many  writers  have  fallen  into  the  same  error. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  463 

sufficiently  purified,  nor  rendered  conformable  to  CENT. 
the  divine  nature,  from  whence  it  derived  its 
origin.  And  they  alone  were  deemed  perfect  by 
these  fanatics,  and  supposed  to  be  united  to  the 
Supreme  Being,  who  could  behold,  without  any 
emotion,  the  naked  bodies  of  the  sex  to  which 
they  did  not  belong,  and  who,  in  imitation  of  what 
was  practised  before  the  fall  by  our  first  parents, 
went  stark-naked,  and  conversed  familiarly  in  this 
manner  with  males  and  females,  without  feeling 
any  of  the  tender  propensities  of  nature.  Hence 
it  was  that  the  Beghards,  (whom  the  Bohemians, 
by  a  change  in  the  pronunciation  of  that  word, 
called  Picards)  when  they  came  into  their  religious 
assemblies,  and  were  present  at  the  celebration  of 
divine  worship,  appeared  absolutely  naked,  with- 
out any  sort  of  veil  or  covering  at  all.  They  had 
also  constantly  in  their  mouths  a  maxim,  which, 
indeed,  was  very  suitable  to  the  genius  of  the 
religion  they  professed,  viz.  that  they  were  not 
free  (/.  e.  sufficiently  extricated  from  the  shackles 
of  the  body)  who  made  use  of  the  garments, 
particularly  such  garments  as  covered  the  thighs 
and  the  parts  adjacent.  These  horrible  tenets 
could  not  but  cast  a  deserved  reproach  upon  this 
absurd  sect ;  and  though  nothing  passed  in  their 
religious  assemblies  that  was  contrary  to  the  rules 
of  virtue,  yet  they  were  universally  suspected  of 
the  most  scandalous  incontinence,  and  of  the  most 
lascivious  practices.  Ziska,  the  austere  general  of 
the  Hussites,  gave  credit  to  these  suspicions,  and 
to  the  rumours  they  occasioned ;  and,  falling  upon 
this  miserable  sect  in  the  year  1421,  he  put  some 
to  the  sword,  and  condemned  the  rest  to  the 
flames,  which  dreadful  punishment  they  sustained 
with  the  most  cheerful  fortitude,  and  also  with 
that  contempt  of  death  that  was  peculiar  to  their 
sect,  and  which  they  possessed  in  a  degree  that 


464  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    seems  to  surpass  credibility  (z).    Among  the  vari- 
PART'H   ous  ^es  ^7  which  these  extravagant  enthusiasts 

'  were  distinguished,  that  of  Adamites  was  one,  and 

it  was  given  them  on  account  of  their  being  so 
studious  to  imitate  the  state  of  innocence  in  which 
the  first  man  was  originally  created.  The  ignomi- 
nious tenn  of  Beghards,  or  Picards,  which  was  at 
first  peculiar  to  the  small  sect  of  which  we  now 
treat,  was  afterwards  applied  to  the  Hussites,  and 
to  all  the  Bohemians  who  opposed  the  tyranny  of 
the  Roman  church.  All  these  were  called  by  their 
enemies,  and  indeed  by  the  multitude  in  general, 
Picard  Friars. 

The  white       HI-  A  new  sect»   which  made  a  great  noise, 

Brethren,    and  infected  the  multitude  with  the  contagion  of 

their    enthusiasm,    arose   about  the  beginning  of 

this  century.     A  certain  priest,  whose  name  is 

not  known,  descended  from  the  Alps  (&),  arrayed 

(i)  See  Jo.  Lasitii  Historia  Fratrum  Bohemorum,  MS.  lib. 
ii.  sect.  Ixxvi.  who  proves,  in  a  satisfactory  and  circumstantial 
manner,  that  the  Hussites  and  the  Bohemian  Brethren  were 
entirely  distinct  from  these  Picards,  and  had  nothing  at  all 
in  common  with  them.  The  other  authors  that  have  written 
upon  this  subject  are  honourably  mentioned  by  Isaac  de 
Beausobre  in  his  Dissertation  sur  les  Adamites  de  Boheme, 
which  is  subjoined  to  Lenfant's  Histoire  de  la  Guerre  des 
Hussites.  This  learned  author  is  at  vast  pains  in  justifying 
the  Picards,  or  Bohemian  Adamites,  whom  he  supposes  to 
have  been  the  same  with  the  Waldenses,  and  a  set  of  men 
eminent  for  their  piety,  whom  their  enemies  loaded  with  the 
most  groundless  accusations.  But  this  is  manifestly  endea- 
vouring to  wash  the  ^Ethiopian  white.  For  it  may  be  demon- 
strated, by  the  most  unexceptionable  and  authentic  records, 
that  the  account  1  have  given  of  the  matter  is  true.  The  re- 
searches I  have  made,  and  the  knowledge  they  have  procured 
me  of  the  civil  and  religious  history  of  these  times,  entitle  me 
perhaps  to  more  credit  in  such  a  point  as  this,  than  the  labo- 
rious author  from  whom  I  differ,  whose  acquaintance  with  the 
history  of  the  middle  age  was  but  superficial,  and  who  was, 
by  no  means,  exempt  from  prejudice  and  partiality. 

ffgg^  (k)  Theodoric  de  Niem  tells  us,  that  it  was  from 
Scotland  that  the  sect  came,  and  that  their  leader  gave  himself 
out  for  the  prophet  Elias.  Sigonius  and  Platina  inform  us, 
that  this  enthusiast  came  from  France;  that  he  was  clothed  in 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  465 

in  a  white  garment,  and  accompanied  with  a  pro-  CENT. 
digious  number  of  persons  of  both  sexes,  who,  after 
the  example  of  their  chief,  were  also  clothed  in 
white  linen,  from  whence  they  were  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Fratres  Albati,  i.  e.  White  Brethren. 
This  enthusiastic  multitude  went  in  a  kind  of  pro- 
cession through  several  provinces,  following  a  cross, 
which  their  leader  held  erected  like  a  standard,  and, 
by  the  striking  appearance  of  their  sanctity  and 
devotion,  captivated  to  such  a  degree  the  minds  of 
the  people  wherever  they  went,  that  persons  of  all 
ranks  and  orders  flocked  in  crowds  to  augment 
their  number.  The  new  chief  exhorted  his  fol- 
lowers to  appease  the  anger  of  an  incensed  Deity, 
emaciated  his  body  by  voluntary  acts  of  mortifica- 
tion and  penance,  endeavoured  to  persuade  the 
European  nations  to  renew  the  war  against  the 
Turks  in  Palestine,  and  pretended,  that  he  was 
favoured  with  divine  visions,  which  instructed  him 
in  the  will  and  in  the  secrets  of  Heaven.  Boni- 
face IX.  apprehending  that  this  enthusiast  or  im- 
postor concealed  insidious  and  ambitious  views  (/), 

white,  carried  in  his  aspect  the  greatest  modesty,  and  se- 
duced prodigious  numbers  of  people  of  both  sexes,  and  of  all 
ages;  that  his  followers  (called  penitents),  among  whom  were 
several  cardinals  and  priests,  were  clothed  in  white  linen 
down  to  their  heels,  with  caps,  which  covered  their  whole 
faces,  except  their  eyes ;  that  they  went  in  great  troops  of 
ten,  twenty,  and  forty  thousand  persons,  from  one  city  to 
another,  calling  out  for  mercy  and  singing  hymns  ;  that 
wherever  they  came  they  were  received  with  great  hospitality, 
and  made  innumerable  proselytes ;  that  they  fasted,  or  lived 
upon  bread  and  water  during  the  time  of  their  pilgrimage, 
which  continued  generally  nine  or  ten  days.  See  Annal. 
Mediol.  ap.  Muratori. — Niem.  lib.  ii.  cap.  xvi. 

^g13  (I)  What  Dr.  Mosheim  hints  but  obscurely  here,  is 
further  explained  by  Sigonius  and  Platina,  who  tell  us,  that 
the  pilgrims,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  stopped  at 
Viterbo,  and  that  Boniface,  fearing  lest  the  priest  who  headed 
them,  designed  by  their  assistance  to  seize  upon  the  pontifi- 
cate, sent  a  body  of  troops  thither,  who  apprehended  the 
false  prophet,  and  carried  him  to  Rome,  where  he  was  burnt, 
VOL.  III.  H  H 


466  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT,    had  him  seized  and  committed  to  the  flames  ;  upon 

xv-     which  his  followers  were  dispersed,  and  his  sect 

^1  entirely  extinguished.     Whether  a  punishment  so 

severe  was  inflicted  with  reason  and  justice  is  a 

point  that  has  been  debated,  and  yet  remains  un- 

certain ;  for  several  writers  of  great  credit  and 

authority  maintain  the  innocence  of  the  sectary, 

while  others  assert  that  he  was  convicted  of  the 

most  enonnous  crimes  (m). 


Flanders,  and  more  especially  at  Brussels,  which 
owed  its  origin  to  an  illiterate  man,  whose  name 
was  jjEgidius  Cantor,  and  to  William  of  Hildenis- 
sen,  a  Carmelite  monk,  and  whose  members  were 
distinguished  by  the  title  of  Men  of  Understanding. 
There  were  many  things  reprehensible  in  the  doc- 
trine of  this  sect,  which  seemed  to  be  chiefly  de- 
rived from  the  theology  of  the  Mystics.  For  they 
pretended  to  be  honoured  with  celestial  visions  ; 
denied  that  any  could  arrive  at  a  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  the  extraordinary 
succours  of  a  Divine  illumination  ;  declared  the 
approach  of  a  new  revelation  from  heaven,  more 
complete  and  perfect  than  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ; 
maintained,  that  the  resurrection  was  already  ac- 
complished in  the  person  of  Jesus,  and  that  no 
other  resurrection  was  to  be  expected  ;  affirmed, 
that  the  inward  man  was  not  defiled  by  the  out- 
ward actions,  whatever  they  were  ;  that  the  pains 
of  hell  were  to  have  an  end,  and  that,  not  only  all 
mankind,  but  even  the  devils  themselves,  were  to 
return  to  God,  and  be  made  partakers  of  eternal 
felicity.  This  sect  seems  to  have  been  a  branch  of 
that  of  the  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit  ; 

(m)  See  Lenfant,,  Hist,  du  Concile  de  Pise,  torn.  i.  p.  102. 
—  Poggia,  Historia  Florentina,  lib.  iii.  p.  122.  —  Marc.  Anton. 
Sabellicus  in  Enneadibus  Rhapsodiae  Historical,  Ennead.  ix. 
lib.  ix.  torn,  ii.  opp.  p.  839.  published  in  folio  at  Basil  in  the 
year  1560. 


CHAP.  v.        Divisions  and  Heresies.  467 

since  they  declared,  that  a  new  dispensation  of  CENT. 
grace  and  spiritual  liberty  was  to  be  promulgated 
to  mortals  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  must,  however, 
be  acknowledged,  on  the  other  hand,  that  their  ab- 
surdities were  mingled  with  several  opinions,  which 
showed,  that  they  were  not  totally  void  of  under- 
standing ;  for  they  maintained,  among  other  things, 
"  First,  That  Christ  alone  had  merited  eternal 
life  and  felicity  for  the  human  race,  and  that  there- 
fore men  could  not  acquire  this  inestimable  privi- 
lege by  their  own  actions  alone ;  Secondly,  That 
the  priests,  to  whom  the  .people  confessed  their 
transgressions,  had  not  the  power  of  absolving 
them,  but  that  it  was  Christ  alone  in  whom  this 
authority  was  vested  ;  and,  Thirdly,  That  volun- 
tary penance  and  mortification  were  not  necessary 
to  salvation."  These  propositions,  however,  and 
some  others,  were  declared  heretical  by  Peter 
d'Ailly,  bishop  of  Cambray,  who  obliged  William 
of  Hildenissen  to  abjure  them  (72),  and  opposed 
with  the  greatest  vehemence  and  success  the  pro- 
gress of  this  sect. 

V.  The  sect  of  the  Flagellantes,  or  Whippers,  A  new  sect 
continued  to  excite  commotions  in  Germany,  more  1 
especially  in  Thuringia  and  the  Lower  Saxony ; 
but  these  fanatics  were  very  different  from  the  an- 
cient heretics  of  the  same  name,  who  ran  wildly 
in  troops  through  various  provinces.  The  new 
Whippers  rejected  not  only  the  sacraments,  but 
also  every  branch  of  external  worship,  and  placed 
their  only  hopes  of  salvation  in  faith  and  flagella- 
tion ;  to  which  they  added  some  strange  doctrines 
concerning  the  evil  spirit,  and  other  matters,  which 
are  not  explained  with  sufficient  perspicuity  in  the 
records  of  antiquity.  The  person  that  appeared 
at  the  head  of  this  sect  in  Thuringia  was  Conrad 

(ri)  See  the  records  of  this  transaction  in  Stcph.  Baluz. 
Miscellan.  torn.  ii.  p.  277. 


468  The  Internal  History  of  the  Church. 

CENT.    Schmidt,  who,  with  many  of  his  followers,  was  ap- 
PART'II.  Pr^hended  and  committed  to  the  flames  (o),  in  the 

1  year  1414,  by   Henry  Schonefield,  who  was,  at 

that  time,  inquisitor  in  Germany,  and  rendered 
his  name  famous  by  his  industry  and  zeal  in  the 
extirpation  of  heresy,  Nicholas  Schaden  suffered  at 
Quedlingburg  for  his  attachment  to  this  sect. 
Berthold  Schade,  who  was  seized  at  Halberstadt 
in  the  year  1481,  escaped  death,  as  appears  most 
probable,  by  abjuring  their  doctrine  (p),  and  we 
find  in  die  records  of  these  unhappy  times  a  nu- 
merous list  of  the  Flagellantes,  whom  the  German 
inquisitors  devoted  to  the  flames. 

(o)  Excerpta  Monachi  Pirnensis,  in  Jo.  Burch.  Menkenii 
Scriptor.  Rerum  Germanicar.  torn.  ii.  p.,  1521. — Chron.;Mona- 
ster.  in  Anton.  Matthaei  Analect,  Vet.  JEvi,  torn.  v.  p.  71. — 
Chron.  Magdeb.  in  Meibomii  Scriptor.  Rerum  German,  torn, 
ii.  p.  362. — From  sixteen  articles  of  faith  adopted  by  this 
sect,  which  were  committed  to  writing  by  a  certain  inquisitor 
of  Brandenborch,  in  the  year  1411,  and  which  Conrad  Schmidt 
is  said  to  have  taken  from  the  papers  of  Walkenried,  we  may 
derive  a  tolerable  idea  of  their  doctrine,  of  which  the  sub- 
stance is  as  follows :  "  That  the  opinions  adopted  by  the 
Roman  church,  with  respect  to  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments, 
the  flames  of  purgatory,  praying  for  the  dead,  and  several 
other  points,  are  entirely  false  and  groundless ;  and  that  the 
person  who  believes  what  is  contained  in  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
repeats  frequently  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ave  Maria, 
and  at  certain  times  lashes  his  body  severely,  as  a  voluntary 
punishment  of  the  transgressions  he  has  committed,  shall  ob- 
tain eternal  salvation." 

(p)  See  the  account  of  this  matter,  which  is  given  by  the 
learned  Jo.  Ernst  Kappius,  in  his  Relat.  de  Rebus  Theologicis 
Antiquis  et  Novis,  a.  1747.  p.  475. 


END  OF  VOL.  III. 


London  :  Printed  bv  Thomas  Davison,  Whitefriars.